Manny Pacquiao’s Irish link says he wants ‘dream’ Conor McGregor showdown
Manny Pacquiao would love to finish his final year in boxing with a Conor McGregor fight.
The eight-weight world champion has been out of action since August of 2021, when he dropped a twelve-round decision to Yordenis Ugas – and officially retired from the sport in the weeks following.
However, the 45-year-old has a number of exhibitions lined up for this year and looks set to fight three times before moving full-time into politics.
The Filipino icon has an April 20 Thailand-hosted exhibition in his diary and is exploring Middle Eastern offers for a big summer showdown. After that, he would like to go out with a bang and believes a ‘dream’ fight with McGregor would be ideal.
“In a dream fight, McGregor would be tremendous,” his advisor Sean Gibbons explained when speaking to Betway Insider.
“Ten years ago, Pacquiao against McGregor wouldn’t have even been competitive but due to the fact Manny is a little older, Conor is still young and really has improved his boxing and gave Mayweather a great run, it would be a great fight.
“So, with the age factor, he could give Manny a good run but there’s no need to even discuss that fight until after June and see if a real fighter comes around and Manny can fight them.”
Gibbons, who is very proud of his Irish roots, revealed talks with regard a meeting haven’t taken place and McGregor won’t be considered for a June or July fight because he looks likely to be otherwise engaged.
“Saudi Arabia would be a great place to end his career and he has always wanted to fight in the Middle East. I hope it works out, we are having discussions and Manny is talking to his Excellency Turki Alalshikh. Conor McGregor has said he is fighting in the UFC in June so there’s nothing happening at all there, but it can be revisited alongside Floyd Mayweather. They are fights he could do at 100 years old, off the couch with ease.
“Right now, the focus is his exhibition fight in Thailand and then hopefully Saudi Arabia and hypothetically, if Conor comes back and does well, we will see but I don’t want to talk too much about Conor McGregor because he is tied up with the UFC and I don’t want to get caught up with Dana White. At the moment, Conor McGregor is not in discussion at all because Conor McGregor is in the UFC and has a big fight coming up in June.”
Speaking in Saudi at the Day of Reckoning event before Christmas McGregor said: “Tell Manny to grow a set of balls and fight me at a higher weight class. Why not? It’s his sport. If he wants me to come down to a smaller weight, I should be able to use more of my weapons. I should be able to kick. I should be able to grapple. Shouldn’t that be fair? Say it to him. Is he a man or a mouse? Is Manny a man or a mouse?”
