McGregor backs Horn in Pacquiao controversy

Conor McGregor has spared a moment from his intense mega-fight training camp to share his views on the controversial verdict from Jeff Horn's bout with Manny Pacquiao.

Ahead of his August 27 fight with Floyd Mayweather the Irish mega-star gave Australian fans a big reason to support him, backing Horn's victory and declaring he "mauled" the Filipino.

"Look what happened to him in that last fight. He (Pacquiao) got mauled. He got absolutely mauled in that fight," McGregor said.

"People were crying ‘big robbery,’ I didn’t see no robbery in that fight. I saw a man that just got mauled in a fight."

McGregor was answering a question regarding who he admired in boxing, but instead only found faults with some of the biggest names in the sport, including Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin and Pacquiao.

"None of those names interest me at this present time," McGregor said.

"I’m facing the god of boxing at the moment. (Mayweather) is supposedly the God of boxing and he could have stayed the God, he could have rode off 49-0.

"Instead, now I am here, and now I am the God of boxing."

Horn will welcome the high profile support of McGregor, after his victory was widely denounced by fight experts, especially American commentator Teddy Atlas.

The Australian former schoolteacher is currently in another battle, attempting to secure a rematch with Pacquiao.

Brisbane City Council has for now withdrawn its financial support for a rematch between Australian WBO welterweight world champion Horn and Pacquiao.

The man who holds the purse strings, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has told News Corp Australia that he wants confirmation from promoters that Pacquiao has signed on for the fight before he commits to marketing the event.

"The Battle of Brisbane only happened with the strong financial support of Brisbane City Council," Cr Quirk told The Courier Mail.

"I need to know we definitely have a fighter coming from the Philippines to fight Brisbane's world champion Jeff Horn and I need to know that fighter is Manny Pacquiao.

"I'm not going to shadow box the fight promoters -- I want some straight answers to the question of is Manny in the boxing ring in Brisbane in November or is he in retirement.

"We don't know at this time and I'm withdrawing any financial support until Manny fronts up and tells us his intentions."

It is believed the council spent over 1 million dollars promoting the July fight where Horn won the world title.