US boxer Floyd Mayweather has been criticised on social media for defending vulgar comments made by Donald Trump in 2005 about women.
“He speaks like a real man spoke,” Mayweather, who attended President Trump’s inauguration, told the Hollywood Unlocked website.
The comments sparked a backlash, with critics pointing to the boxer’s convictions for domestic violence.
Mr Trump apologized after taped remarks about groping women emerged last year.
Using graphic language, Mr Trump is heard bragging about kissing women and grabbing them by the genitals, during a private conversation.
Many on social media referred to the boxer’s history of attacking women.
In the interview, the boxer also defended Mr Trump against allegations of support for racist groups.
“You never heard anything about Donald Trump being racist until he ran for president,” Mayweather said.
Mayweather told Hollywood Unlocked that Mr. Trump “didn’t do nothing”.
“Real men speak like: ‘Man, she had a fat ass. You see her ass? I had to squeeze her ass?” the boxer said. “So he’s talking locker-room talk. Locker-room talk.”
Mr Trump has been criticised over his response to deadly clashes at a far-right rally, held by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month
Meanwhile, a presenter for ESPN TV has apologised after calling Mr Trump a “white supremacist” on social media – an allegation described by the White House as “outrageous”.