The Mayweather-McGregor world tour ramped up tenfold in Toronto

The crowd in Los Angeles leaned heavily in favor of Conor McGregor Tuesday, but it was still nothing like the heavily partisan crowd in Toronto. Every mention of Floyd Mayweather Jr. drew raucous boos during the second day of a four-day tour promoting the fighters’ Aug. 26 boxing match.

During the first day of the tour, McGregor was caught off guard by a press conference format that asked him to make a speech rather than answer questions. He did well with the moment, but not like he did on Wednesday.

With 24 hours to prepare, McGregor turned up the heat in a big way.

McGregor harnessed the partisan crowd — which took shots of its own, including a “Pay your taxes!” chant directed at Mayweather, who is reportedly petitioning for a reprieve on his 2015 taxes.

The Irish MMA star even turned his attention to Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza, calling him a weasel and accusing the network of cutting his microphone during the press conference in LA.

McGregor finished his diatribe inches from Mayweather’s face, asking the boxer why he would bring a book bag on stage when he “can’t even read.”

Mayweather, for the most part, stuck to the talking points he brought to LA. He reminded McGregor often that he has made much more money throughout his career and he chanted “hard work” to a crowd that was unwilling to chant “dedication” in return.

When he asked McGregor to bet his fight check on the outcome of the bout, the UFC star had no problem with accepting the wager (although, there’s no way that bet will hold).

If he got under the skin of the UFC star at any point, it was when a member of the crowd handed Mayweather an Irish flag that he posed with and carried around the stage. McGregor threatened Mayweather for carrying the flag, but struck back by snagging the boxer’s backpack and parsing through it, eventually making fun of the amount of money inside.

There wasn’t a clear winner Tuesday, but it was McGregor’s day Wednesday.

It’s not surprising, considering much of his meteoric rise has been because of his charismatic personality on the microphone. While Mayweather is still the huge favorite to win in August, the press tour in July is ripe for McGregor to shine.

Next up is a stop in New York on Thursday and a finale in London on Friday. Buckle up.