Conor McGregor’s latest recruit proves he’s taking Floyd Mayweather very seriously

Conor McGregor is obsessing over his professional boxing debut, although that's hardly surprising.

For Conor McGregor's first dip in the pro pugilism pool, he's diving head first into the deepest possible end. Undefeated prizefighter Floyd Mayweather will welcome him to the ring inside the T-Mobile Arena on August 26. As daunting as that task is, McGregor appears to be taking all the necessary steps to ensure that he is as prepared as possible in such a short time frame. McGregor's studying tape, perfecting tactics, sparring with some elite fighters and now he has brought someone in to make sure he has a handle on the ruleset. https://twitter.com/thenotoriousmma/status/874682625079865344?lang=en Hall of Fame referee Joe Cortez revealed to Helen Yee Sports that McGregor's camp recruited him to help 'the Notorious get to grips with the unified rules of boxing.

"They were recruiting around for a referee to teach them the rules on refereeing – the unified rules – to make sure that there’s no mistakes being committed the night of the fight, when he fights Floyd Mayweather on August 26^th at the T-Mobile Arena here in Las Vegas. So, I’m just instructing him on the dos and don’ts, to make sure he follows the rules to a tee."

The 73-year-old official was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011 and has been the man in the middle for several high-profile fights. You may remember him as the other man in the ring when Floyd Mayweather scored that controversial knockout over Victor Ortiz in 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjfHuAVig9g Ortiz will be working with the Dubliner for five weeks, strictly on a temporary basis. He won't be in McGregor's corner, but he will be in the arena for fight night. He's been impressed with what he has seen from the UFC superstar.

"We’re going from A to Z, it’s something that you don’t learn overnight. But I’m pretty impressed with his learning and he’s not a difficult guy to work with. He’s very easy, and he follows instructions very well, and I feel good he’s learning so quick.”

He had the pleasure of watching McGregor's eight rounds of sparring with two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi. Although he signed a confidentiality agreement, he made it pretty obvious that the session was at the very least competitive.

"It was like any other fight. We tried to make it like it was a real fight. Paulie did a great job in making sure he fought the way he wanted to. It was very, very exciting, a lot of fun and it allowed McGregor to learn all the things that could happen in the ring."

A month out from the fight, Ortiz reckons McGregor is already physically and mentally prepared for taking on Mayweather. He predicts a great fight between the two warriors.