Connor McGregor invokes C.J. Watson in Floyd Mayweather put down

Conor McGregor seems ready to fight Floyd Mayweather. And he hurled a very personal insult at the controversial fighter, invoking C.J. Watson.

In the boxing/MMA world, there is one fight slowly gaining steam that has everyone talking.

Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is unofficially retired with an undefeated record. But the allure of one last big payday could be enough to get him another fight. And in promotional stops the last few weeks he has hinted at the money-making potential of matching up with MMA champion Connor McGregor.

The boisterous McGregor is not afraid to stir the pot. And as this fight seems to be getting closer to a reality, the back and forth between the two only seems to be increasing.

And then there was this tweet from McGregor on Wednesday:

The C.J. Watson that McGregor is referring to is indeed the Orlando Magic guard C.J. Watson.

McGregor sent out this tweet following Mayweather’s appearance Wednesday morning on ESPN’s First Take where Mayweather called out McGregor and others for talking about entering the ring with him. He challenged McGregor or UFC president Dana White to send someone into the ring.

McGregor gave his response above. It feels like for fight fans this will happen.

So why C.J. Watson?

That is a bit of a long, complicated and harrowing story too.

In 2010, Mayweather became upset over text messages his ex-girlfriend received from Watson at her Las Vegas home. He then assaulted her, leaving her bruised. This was the only one of Mayweather’s alleged incidents of domestic abuse (and unfortunately with Mayweather, there are many)  where Mayweather was convicted and spent time incarcerated.

His ex-girlfriend downplayed her initial testimony. Mayweather claimed the charges were exaggerated. But the police reports and physical evidence suggested otherwise.

This was the incident (again, it is upsetting there are multiple incidents to differentiate) where Mayweather’s own 11-year-old son gave a heartbreaking police report detailing the amount of abuse and control Mayweather kept over his mother’s life.

Mayweather, according to the police report obtained by Yahoo! in 2013, became enraged and asked her if she was seeing Watson. Even though Mayweather was not dating her at the time and Mayweather was supposedly seeing someone else, Mayweather reportedly did not want her seeing any other men while living in a house he owned.

That is how Watson got dragged into this. There was no personal confrontation between Watson and Mayweather, at least that was reported. And Mayweather spent a grand total of two months in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.

Be sure to read Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports’ reporting on the incident and the reporting from Diana Moskovitz of Deadspin.

McGregor invoking Watson’s name is a very personal insult to Mayweather. Watson was a passive player in this specific incident and in this long saga between Mayweather and his history of domestic violence.

It is probably not a good thing to make light of Mayweather’s domestic violence in any way. It remains a serious issue when it comes to Mayweather’s legacy as an athlete.

Next: C.J. Watson makes subtle impact for Orlando Magic

Watson, meanwhile, is probably more worried about improving his own play and helping the Orlando Magic win basketball games.