Floyd Mayweather Snr denies Conor McGregor's 'dance for me boy' jibes were racially motivated

McGregor has been criticised for comments he made during a press conference

The two men came face to face for the first time on Tuesday night (Getty)

Floyd Mayweather Snr has played down suggestions Conor McGregor racially insulted his son, during their frequently volatile press conference on Tuesday evening in Los Angeles.

McGregor met with some criticism after the conference for a comment he made while on stage. With Mayweather shadow boxing in front of the cameras at the Staples Center, McGregor could be heard shouting: “Dance for me, boy!”

The Irishman perhaps realised that he had crossed a line as he quickly changed his comments to: “Dance for me, son!” But the UFC star was immediately criticised online and on social media for the perceived racial slight.

However, Mayweather Snr, who was present throughout the bad-tempered press conference, denied that McGregor’s comments were racially charged.

“Racist? I don't know what that got to do with race,” Floyd Sr. told TMZ Sports moments after the news conference at Staples Center, when informed of McGregor’s comments.

“This is a boxing match. I don't know what that got to do with no racists.”

The word “boy” when used to describe an African American man has long been considered troublesome in the United States.

In the US, the word “boy” was regularly used as an insult towards black men and slaves, particularly in the Jim Crow era, to indicate that black men were of a lower social status.

Both McGregor and Mayweather are yet to respond to the incident, although both men are due to appear at the second news conference in the four-stop press tour on Wednesday night.

The press tour stops off in Toronto on Wednesday night, before conferences in New York City on Thursday and London on Friday.