Pacquiao, mixed martial arts star McGregor to fight in 2021

[rooster59]

Pacquiao, mixed martial arts star McGregor to fight in 2021

 

FILE PHOTO: MMA Mixed Martial Arts - UFC 246 - Welterweight - Conor McGregor v Donald Cerrone - T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States - January 18, 2020 Conor McGregor before his fight against Donald Cerrone REUTERS/Mike Blake

 

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine boxing champion Manny Pacquiao will face former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor in the ring next year, and part of proceeds from the fight will go to coronavirus victims in his country, his office said on Saturday.

 

Both fighters are "getting ready for this one epic last boxing fight," said Jayke Joson, special assistant to Pacquiao, who is also a Philippine senator.

 

Joson's statement followed a tweet by Irishman McGregor in which he said that he would be "boxing Pacquiao next in the Middle East".

 

"We don't deny it," Joson said of the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champ's tweet.

 

McGregor announced on Twitter in June that he was retiring from the sport for the third time. He first quit in April 2016.

In March 2019, he again announced he was hanging up his gloves, but on both occasions the retirements were short-lived.

 

Negotiation between the two camps "is now starting to move on", Joson said, adding a "huge portion" of Pacquiao's earnings would go to those who were affected by the pandemic.

 

Total confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines surpassed 300,000 on Saturday, while deaths rose to 5,284.

 

The Philippines has the most confirmed COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia and the region's second highest number of coronavirus deaths, next to Indonesia.

 

The 41-year-old Pacquiao, whose speed and power belie his age, is the only man in boxing history to hold world titles in eight different divisions.

 

He defeated Keith Thurman to win the WBA Welterweight Super Championship in July, taking his record to 62-7-2 with 39 knockouts.

 

McGregor has only fought once in professional boxing, suffering a 10th-round technical knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a lucrative bout that took place in August 2017.

 

Despite his limited experience in the boxing ring, McGregor, a former two-weight UFC champion, told Reuters in November 2017 that the Mayweather fight earned him 140 million dollars.

 

 

(Reporting by Karen Lema, additional reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon and Hugh Lawson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-27

 

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[George Bowman]

I'm betting on the old guy...

 

[tonray]

Floyd played with him for the spectacle. I don't think Pacquiao has the patience to fool around. Manny in 8 rounds TKO.

[ezzra]

43 minutes ago, tonray said:

Pacquiao

If it was real he midget would be dead meat, but it's all for the show and money, remember Muhammad Ali shouted at the Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki during the second round of their 15-round fight? or Yarbrough vs. Takase featured on the Pride 3 card and the sumo wrestler had a huge size advantage over his Japanese opponent? and many more silly similar fights...

[Kerryd]

Manny gives up about 2 inches in height (1.68 cm to 1.73 for McGregor). Depending in his conditioning, he also gives up maybe 11/12 kgs as well as 7 inches of reach.

However, if he can stay inside the jab and keep the fight close, I'd say he has the better chance of winning. McGregor isn't a boxer and in the Mayweather fight he was fading after just a few rounds. (Even though he supposedly landed more punches on Mayweather than Pacquiao did in the bout he had against Mayweather.)

The whole show with Mayweather was all about the Pay Per View jackpot. (The 2 of them supposedly earned around $400 million combined for that one fight.)
The only way McGregor would have won was if Mayweather had of done a Hollywood "slip" just as McGregor was throwing a punch (in other words, if he screwed up and was accidentally knocked out).
Mayweather probably could have ended it in the first 4 rounds, if not sooner. But then they would have faced a backlash, especially from the PPV crowd. People would have been P.O.'d if the fight ended in a 1st round KO by Mayweather.

I was surprised that they haven't done a rematch but maybe they've seen a lot of negative feedback from that match and are not keen on promoting a rematch that would make considerably less than the first one did (or be an even larger farce than the first one). 

I don't know if Pacquiao would care if the fight ended in the 1st round as I don't think he'd want to risk being KO'd by McGregor.
(Unless he was $$convinced$$ to draw it out for a few rounds to make McGregor look good and keep the PPV fans happy.)

Regardless, I won't be paying to see it. You can bet that they'll start hyping it a lot in the months before and making all manner of ludicrous comments to try and boost interest. Just like they did for the Mayweather match. It was all staged to increase the PPV (and it worked so you can bet they'll do it again). 

However I doubt it will generate a lot of interest in the US, or many other places outside of SE Asia.

[spacex]

I'd much rather watch a UFC title fight.  As a matter of fact I just did, and Adesanya was great in his title defense.

 

I've got to hand it to these two guys though, they'll get a nice payday.

[englishoak]

Another Mayweather type dance about with the gate being the only aim no doubt.. 

 

See Tyson is doing the rounds for the over 50s match too, apparently there are a large number of over hill old sports people dying to get in a late in life huge pay day for mincing about as an old fart pretending to be young again.. how sad. 

 

What a farce sports have become, like everything else these days its just about money. ...such a shame but hey ho, if mugs will pay for it someone will take the coin... 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by englishoak

[Mick501]

Good luck to McGregor for being able to parlay his UFC career in to fights with these more legitimate superstars.  Net result will be two losses to 40 somethings.  Fear for his health in this one - PacMan will press forward as he always has, and demolish Conor pretty quickly on the inside.

 

fair play to Conor for not turning the Mayweather fight in to a wrestling match, but that's the only way he can get out of this without suffering a serious beat down.   PacMan put any doubts over his age to rest against  Thurman, who is a brilliant fighter at the top of his game.

[nobodysfriend]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the Mayweather fight earned him 140 million dollars

??? Crazy !!!

[pacovl46]

Awwww, did you run out of money again, Connor? Maybe you should ease up on the lavish lifestyle! 
If he doesn’t get Manny with a lucky punch he’s gonna gas, like he always does. 
You should fight Khabib instead, since you’ve been running your mouth about him after you lost! 

[Geordieabroad]

Mayweather would normally have knocked that clown out in 2 rounds, but because of the ppv audience he was told not to. Manny could do the same, we'll see what he's told to do

 

[ronaldo0]

Anyone who pays to watch this needs their heads checked ! 

[Susco]

I see a lot of hate in this thread.

 

A man who has 22 wind out of 26 fights, and won 3 title belts, with the fastest belt win taking just 13 SECONDS, calling a loser is pure hate.

 

I doubt though if any of them would dare to use those words when face to face with McGregor.

 

If he wins against Paco it is a paid for win, if he loses it is because Paco was better hahaha.

 

Let's talk again after the fight, and see how many here will have egg all over their face, but of course they will never admit it

[rasmus5150]

11 hours ago, spacex said:

I'd much rather watch a UFC title fight.  As a matter of fact I just did, and Adesanya was great in his title defense.

 

I've got to hand it to these two guys though, they'll get a nice payday.

How about a ****SPOILER ALERT****

 

Thanks for ruining the UFC event for me.......

[nausea]

Predictable, I suppose, given the money generated by the last event. MMA and boxing are two different skill sets, and like:

 

"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,"

 

I doubt this one will generate anything like the money made by the last one, cos most people are now savvy to what's going on. IMHO Pacquiao could destroy McGregor in short order under boxing rules, just like McGregor would destroy Pacquiao under UFC rules, but we'll see. It'll either be a farce, like the Mayweather thing, where the guy pretty obviously drew it out to give the audience some value for their money, or brutal. I'm hoping brutal, let's put this whole thing to rest.

 

[scammed]

On 9/27/2020 at 8:34 AM, rooster59 said:

McGregor, a former two-weight UFC champion, told Reuters in November 2017 that the Mayweather fight earned him 140 million dollars.

oh my gawd

[Logosone]

On 9/28/2020 at 3:54 AM, nausea said:

It'll either be a farce, like the Mayweather thing, where the guy pretty obviously drew it out to give the audience some value for their money, or brutal. 

To be fair Mayweather always draws it out. He did the same with Manny, basically running away from him. It's just Mayweather's style. To keep running away and frustrate the opponent. How Mayweather won the fight with Manny I will never know. He just kept running and running and running. It's boring and embarassing to watch. 

 

In his prime Manny would destroy Conor very quickly, but now Manny is old and he's been knocked out easily by some guys. Could be close.

[FarangULong]

On 9/27/2020 at 3:46 AM, George Bowman said:

I'm betting on the old guy...

 

Duh. Funny how Pactards were complaining the loudest about the Maywaether-McGregor circus show.

 

I'm a huge Mayweather fan (huge Boxing fan in general), and it was his only fight I boycotted. I knew from the get go, that he would most likely carry him for a few rounds and then proceed to dismantle, but make it interesting.

 

If Pac has any sense, he will do the same (to give fans a show). If May had zero respect for McGregor's non existant power, then neither will Pac. That being said, it would be satisfying to see McNugget sprawled out on the canvas. Even though I don't like Pacquiao (and his fans even less).

[FarangULong]

On 9/30/2020 at 5:28 PM, Logosone said:

To be fair Mayweather always draws it out. He did the same with Manny, basically running away from him. It's just Mayweather's style. To keep running away and frustrate the opponent. How Mayweather won the fight with Manny I will never know. He just kept running and running and running. It's boring and embarassing to watch. 

 

In his prime Manny would destroy Conor very quickly, but now Manny is old and he's been knocked out easily by some guys. Could be close.

Ah yes... the pactard armchair experts. Never laced up a day in their life (well maybe some type of lace, not the one I'm refering to, anyway...), and talking about running, hugging etc..

 

When exactly did he "run" from McNugget? He walked him down, that's how little respect he had for him. And to make it more interesting, and let him land more of his ridiculous "shots".

 

As for "running" from Fanny PacRoids Catchweightiao: It's called "stick and move". You know, pactards love to praise Ali, yet Ali was a huge "runner" himself, and an actual cheat (at the very least his team was). He fouled way more often and blatantly than Mayweather ever did. Yet he's the "greatest Boxer of all time", according to some.

 

I've forgotten more about Boxing, than most of you will ever know. What Mayweather does is a thing of beauty. I wish I had 1/10th of talent, movement, ring IQ, perception and reflexes. Except the brittle hands, he can keep those. What does Manny have, that I'd like?? The fan power to make outrageous A side demands regarding fight weight (yet still get a title belt for a plastic "8 weight legacy"), the pull to fight for vacant belts against fighters coming off the biggest losses in their whole career (with usually one token win against a nobody in between), etc.

[FarangULong]

All that being said, if McNugget defeats, let alone KOs Manny (he's overrated, but not THAT overrated), I will delete my account/go for a perm-ban... Just goes to show how much you know about boxing, if you honestly think that even a washed up Catchweightiao will lose to McNugget....