John Kavanagh set to auction off Conor McGregor's shoes that he 'sneakily' acquired to raise funds for treatment of a paralyzed SBG fighter

Conor McGregor and John Kavanagh [McGregor's shoes image courtesy - @TheNotoriousMMA on Twitter]

Conor McGregor's head coach John Kavanagh shared an interesting story about how he put aside the Irish superstar's favorite shoes from training camp for the blockbuster clash against Floyd Mayweather back in 2017.

In an appearance on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour podcast, Kavanagh detailed how he put the shoes aside and what he plans to do with them.

According to Kavanagh, while Conor McGregor was preparing to fight Mayweather, he already knew that the bout would be regarded as one of the biggest fights in combat sports history. After their last training session together, Kavanagh said he 'sneakily' took the shoes away and kept them with him ever since.

Kavanagh now plans to auction the shoes off to raise funds for the treatment of a young Irish fighter from SBG (Straight Blast Gym, Dublin) named Ian Coughlan, who suffered an injury this year that left him paralyzed.

Guys let’s get together and support this young Irish fighter who suffered a terrible injury at a gym in Ireland.
Coach John and the team at SBG are hosting a training day and my own recovery permitting, I hope to be in attendance. There will be signed fight wear also! ☘️ twitter.com/John_Kavanagh/…

Kavanagh revealed that while the total cost of the treatment is approximately 75,000 euros, a generous donation by Conor McGregor has already raised around 45,000 euros. He hopes to raise the rest by auctioning the former two-division UFC champ's shoes.

"In the lead up to the Mayweather fight, Conor had a pair of boots that he wore for the training camp that he kind of fell in love with that he wore them in all the sessions. At the end of the training camp I certainly took note that this was going to be one of the biggest combat sports fights of all time. After the last session I sneakily took them away and put them to one side. It seems the time now that I took them out of the safe. I haven't done anything to these, they haven't been cleaned up because I knew they were going to be a very important piece of combat sports memorabilia and we're hoping we have an auction page set up... I have done my research on this treatment and I believe by next summer maybe we could have him [Coughlan] come on the show and show what it's done and what it's meant to him. We needed to raise 75,000 euros for this and we're already knocking on 45,000 euros. A big chunk of that came from the man himself, Conor and now he's put these [the shoes] in," Kavanagh said.

Check out Kavanagh's appearance on the MMA Hour below:

Conor McGregor doesn't shy away from helping people in need

Conor McGregor may be a polarizing figure in the world of combat sports, but the outspoken Irishman has often lent a helping hand to those in need across Ireland as well as the United States.

The southpaw once helped save an SBG branch in Ireland from shutting shop. SBG Portarlington in County Laois was about to be shut down due to financial problems during the lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon being made aware of the situation, McGregor sent monetary-aids to save the gym from closing down.

Two days after announcing their closing, SBG Portarlington posted an update that @TheNotoriousMMA had stepped in to help keep the Irish gym open.

(via sbgport/Instagram, h/t @SeanSheehanBA) https://t.co/fKUXZv6PQE

In 2020, the Irishman donated PPE kits worth over $1 million to healthcare workers across several Irish hospitals.

Conor McGregor says he will donate €1 million in "personal protective equipment" to hospitals combating the coronavirus in Ireland's Leinster region https://t.co/qjGkp109RY