Conor McGregor praises Gervonta Davis’ ‘vicious’ uppercut in Leo Santa Cruz fight as he recalls Floyd Mayweather bout

Gervonta flattened Leo Santa Cruz in Texas on Saturday night and the finish grabbed Conor McGregor’s attention.

The Floyd Mayweather protege was tasked with the toughest test of his career so far in his pay-per-view debut and landed a stunning left uppercut which knocked Santa Cruz out cold.

About 10,000 fans were allowed into San Antonio’s 72,000-capacity Alomodome Arena to watch, with masks and social distancing rules in place.

In addition to the finish, ‘Tank’ also took home the WBA super-featherweight title and a version of the WBA lightweight belt.

And McGregor, whose whiskey brand sponsored the fight, heaped praise on the uppercut and also revealed he was ‘praying’ that Santa Cruz recovers well.

“My lord! What a vicious uppercut that was,” he wrote on Twitter. “Praying for the health and safety of Santa Cruz there. The young man ‘Tank’ Davis has some serious venom in that back hand shot. Incredible!”

Asked about the punch afterwards, Davis said his opponent was ‘right there for it’.

“He punches, but he doesn’t try to get out of the way. There was nowhere for him to go on that knockout because I got him into the corner,” he said, adding: “I don’t have to call anybody else out. I’m the top dog. Just line them up, and I’ll knock them out one by one.”

It was a first knockout for Santa Cruz, who was taken to the hospital for a check-up and later wrote on Instagram he was okay.

McGregor, meanwhile, is back in training for his next fight, against Dustin Poirier in January, is also keen to get back into the boxing ring soon.

He is thought to be readying a bout with Manny Pacquiao in the future, having fought Mayweather previously.

And he was reminded of the lucrative 2017 clash by a user on Twitter, who sent him the uppercut he landed on the 50-0 legend.

“I walked Floyd onto mine as he rushed in with a back hand to my..?(to where ever he was aiming that back hand lol),” he responded.

“Davis stepped out and in with his, fully planted. Way more devastating! My shot, though slightly smothered, was still a tasty fast shot. Happy at the time.”