How long can we validate the behavior at the Mayweather-McGregor press conference?

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But while we all knew publicity for the matchup would feature over-the-top displays of posturing, self-aggrandizing and hyper-masculine aggression, I don't think we were prepared for how precipitously the trash talk would devolve into slurs and stereotypes.

Over the course of four pressers in four cities this week, Mayweather and McGregor went from exchanging the standard prefight idiocy to back-and-forth homophobic, misogynistic and racial epithets. McGregor, who has trafficked in ethnic stereotyping in the past, on Tuesday described "Rocky III" as the movie with the "dancing monkeys in the gym" and told Mayweather "dance for me, boy." His sarcastic response to accusations of racism only made things worse.

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Mayweather responded to McGregor's taunts by accusing him of disrespecting black women, a very pot-calling-the-kettle-black claim considering his very public history of violence against women. And on Friday, just days after chastising McGregor for his mouth, (and just a few years after his own foray into racial stereotyping), Mayweather called the Irish fighter a "ho," a "b----" and a "f----t."

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While many of us watched from afar, disgusted, the fans in the arenas cheered. And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see such filth pass for entertainment. As a society we've embraced a gradual loss of civility and decency. Outrageous, clownish behavior used to be reserved for tiny pockets of the entertainment world; we pointed and laughed at the foolish folks we saw on "The Jerry Springer Show," looking down our noses at their boorish behavior. Now unsavory reality show characters like Danielle Bregoli, better known as the "cash me outside" girl from "Dr. Phil," don't disappear when an episode's reruns do. Instead they go viral and get celebrated. Earlier this year, Bregoli was reportedly charging thousands of dollars to make appearances, cashing in on her classless persona.

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