Speaking in the wake of his 10th round TKO defeat to Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor remained confident that he had 'smoked [Floyd] in the early rounds.'
Although he conceded that he got 'a little wobbly' and ultimately lost to the better boxer, the Irish fighter did suggest that the referee's decision to end the fight demonstrated a degree of 'bias', and did not reflect his impression of how the fight was going.
Having wished he could have seen out the twelve rounds, McGregor suggested that as they entered the 10th round he had taken 4 rounds to Mayweather's 5.
While the opening two rounds certainly demonstrated McGregor's strongest period throughout the bout, the subsequent release of the judges' score cards do not suggest that McGregor's impression of how the fight was going was accurate.
Each of the three judges did score the first round in McGregor's favour. Yet, the manner in which Mayweather appeared content to stand and assess the unusual challenge facing him does bear considering here.
From this point onward, judges Clements and Cavalleri both scored the remaining 8 completed rounds in the American's favour; Dave Moretti felt that McGregor shaded the second round but no more then that.
While McGregor's retrospective analysis of the fight testifies more to his positivity than his boxing acumen, Mayweather's eventual TKO preceded what clearly was going to be a comfortable victory on points - if it came down to that.
