With the countdown toward the Aug. 26 pay-per-view boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and UFC champion Conor McGregor closing in on the 60-day mark, many top names in the sweet science have taken their turn slinging criticism at the bout.

Despite the fact that Mayweather-McGregor is expected to challenge boxing's live gate and PPV buy records, it's difficult to find anyone who doesn't see the fight for what it truly is: a carnival, entertainment spectacle and outright money grab.

Some like retired great Bernard Hopkins, who holds a competing interest as a promoter in the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin showdown three weeks later on Sept. 16, have taken it a step further.

"That shows you the lack of respect that [Mayweather] has for the sport," Hopkins told BoxingScene.com.

"This is all fake news. First of all, [McGregor] hasn't fought an amateur [boxing] fight to my knowledge. I've checked around and I've been around the game for a long time. He hasn't had any experience as an amateur or a professional. How does any commission, in Vegas or anywhere, give him a license to fight a guy like Mayweather, who is one of the icon guys of our era?"

Manny Pacquiao, who returns Saturday to face Jeff Horn in Australia, set the combat sports PPV buy record at an astounding 4.6 million in 2015 against Mayweather. But even "PacMan" said he isn't willing to waste his time watching such a sideshow event, in which almost no one is willing to give McGregor, 28, a chance at even being competitive against the 40-year-old Mayweather.

"The real fight and the best fight is Golovkin versus Canelo," Pacquiao told Yahoo Sports. "The best versus the best. That's the fight I will be watching.

"McGregor has no chance in this fight. In fact, it could be very boring. There is no way he will be able to land a meaningful punch on Floyd. How could he? He has no professional experience in boxing."

Not surprisingly, Alvarez agreed. The Mexican star, who has become the face of boxing in Mayweather's retirement, joined "Money" in their 2013 super fight to produce 2.2 million PPV buys, the third-highest total in history.

"I really don't want to comment about that fight," Alvarez told media members during his recent promotional tour for the Golovkin fight. "Our fight is a real fight; it's a fight [fans] demanded and wanted. It's two fighters at their best, at their peak, and you know what you're going to get."

Alvarez, who was nearly shutout over 12 rounds against Mayweather and struggled to land a meaningful punch, knows first hand the struggles McGregor will face.

"Mayweather's style doesn't make for attractive fights; it's difficult to land punches," Alvarez said. "He's not aggressive; he doesn't punch hard at all. I learned a lot [from that fight], and I've grown."

During a media stop at ESPN headquarters last week, Golovkin said he would only watch the fight if he had the time and said he would prefer to "go and play hockey with my son." Naturally, he preferred his own bout with Alvarez as the biggest "real" fight of the year.

"If you want to watch a true fight, a true boxing fight, like a classic fight, welcome to Sept. 16," Golovkin said. "If you want to watch a show -- like, I don't know, a business show, a comedy show -- Floyd is Floyd. Conor, he is a very good fighter, but he's not a boxer."

The only fighter who seems to have given McGregor a chance is former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, an English boxer of Irish descent, who is known for his flamboyant takes.

"I think Conor McGregor will knock him out in the first 35 seconds like he did to Jose Aldo, to be honest," Fury told iFL TV. "I think McGregor will do him inside one round. It will be good for boxing, won't it? It will be great for boxing. It will be great for the real people of the world."