The boxing and MMA worlds are buzzing about a possible crossover bout between boxing icon Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao and Irish UFC superstar “Notorious” Conor McGregor.
With Pacquiao who turned 41 in December, signing with McGregor’s management team Paradigm Sports, it seems the possibility of the two meeting in the boxing ring could soon become a reality.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor fought back in 2017 and the fight did extremely well financially with the Irish star earning somewhere between $75 to $100 million dollars for his pro boxing debut. It was the most money McGregor made for a single fight in his entire career.
McGregor who enjoys living a lavish lifestyle would easily generate another mega payday in the boxing ring against a big name like Manny Pacquiao.
The hardcore fans of boxing and MMA don’t like the match up, but the casual fans who outnumber them would likely fall sucker to the hype and dish out the money to watch the spectacle.
Renowned boxing trainer Joel Diaz was interviewed by Elie Sekbach of ESNEWS during the Ryan Garcia vs. Francisco Fonseca event on Valentines day and gave his thoughts on the possible Manny Pacquiao vs. Conor McGregor boxing match.
Diaz is best known for training Timothy Bradley in an upset victory over Manny Pacquiao back in 2012, and believes the Filipino WBA welterweight champion would give McGregor another KO loss in boxing.
“Manny knocks out Conor,” Diaz told ESNEWS. “It won’t go past seven rounds, I guarantee you that. Floyd [Mayweather] carried him [Conor McGregor] to give the people a show. Floyd could’ve knocked him out, but the thing is this, you are mixing two different sports MMA and Boxing. I have professional boxers and I have MMA fighters and when they’ve sparred each other the boxer always dominates the MMA fighter. If we switch the cards and Manny Pacquiao goes into Conor McGregor’s world, it’s a different story. A lot of people want to see that type of circus. It’s a money circus, big money.”
Manny Pacquiao who currently holds the WBA welterweight championship could defend his title in either June or July of 2020, with Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, and Shawn Porter as possible opponents.
