James McClean is a big boxing fan. He regularly uploads videos of himself training on his Instagram account, and he seems to have a fairly decent grasp on the sport.
In 2018, he was also in the corner for Tyrone McCullough for his fight against Joe Ham in Belfast, which the Derry man won.
McClean recently travelled to Las Vegas to celebrate his 30th birthday, and he decided to get a bit of training in while he was over there. What better place to do it than at the Mayweather Boxing Club, the gym owned by the Mayweather family?
The Ireland winger was put through his paces by Floyd Mayweather Sr., and you get a glimpse of the workout in a video uploaded to YouTube. Mayweather Snr can be heard saying to the footballer before they start:
Everybody here will tell you, I'm the best.
I must confess, of all the rest, there's no contest.
Humility clearly runs in the family then.
McClean admits to knowing only the basics of the sport to the renowned trainer, but he seems to acquit himself well.
Fellow boxing enthusiast Conor McBride, who accompanied McClean on the trip, told the Derry News that it was an incredible experience to train in such a prestigious gym:
While we were in Las Vegas, I had the idea to visit the Mayweather gym as James and myself are both big boxing fans. Mayweather’s boxing club is one of the most famous in the world.
We both knew it would be a once in a lifetime experience so we grabbed it with both hands...
The experience was amazing-listening and watching Floyd Mayweather Snr at work was incredible.
Hopefully McClean can bring that fighting spirit into the remainder of the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.
