Sugar Ray Leonard Warns Floyd Mayweather Against Partying Before McGregor Fight

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Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard has warned Floyd Mayweather Jr. against too much partying before his high-profile bout with UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor next week at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

On Saturday, TMZ Sports passed along comments from Leonard after Mayweather posted a message on Instagram declaring his intention to party every night before the fight. The former five-division world champion doesn't like the plan, but he said the undefeated superstar should have as much sex as he wants.

Mayweather, a sizable favorite in next weekend's clash, is primed to take the opposite approach.

Along with his social-media post about the nightly parties, Money told TMZ Sports earlier the week he's planning to avoid sex leading up to the fight, an old-school superstition.

Interestingly, the 40-year-old undefeated boxing superstar has otherwise spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks talking up his opponent's chances. The question is whether it's a tactic to generate more hype or a realistic outlook about his fading physical skill.

"He's a lot younger. When you look at myself and Conor McGregor on paper, he's taller, has a longer reach, he's a bigger man from top to bottom. He's a lot younger, so youth is on his side," Mayweather told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. "And I've been off a couple of years. And I'm in my 40s. So, if you look at everything on paper, it leans toward Conor McGregor."

He added: "I'm not the same fighter I was two years ago. I'm not the same fighter I was five years ago. I lost a step. A fighter like Andre Berto isn't even supposed to go the distance with Floyd Mayweather, but remember, I was 38. It's obvious I'm slipping a little bit to even let a fighter like that go the distance with me. I'm not what I used to be."

It's a bit odd to make those type of remarks and then announce an endless week of partying in the week before the fight. That suggests Mayweather is confident about his chances against McGregor, who's set to make his professional boxing debut after a meteoric rise in UFC.