A potential Manny Pacquiao Conor McGregor boxing match seems to have come out of left field.
There is no denying now that Conor McGregor has become the biggest name in combat sports, with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao the latest from the professional boxing world to call him out.
Speaking to Fox Sports News, Pacquiao said:
“In boxing? In boxing I would fight McGregor but not in the UFC. Just boxing.”
This comes at a time where the non stop talk of a possible Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor boxing match has reached new heights in recent weeks, where offers between both Mayweather and UFC president Dana White have been going back and forward in public.
From McGregor’s perspective, the Mayweather fight no doubt would bring a higher amount of financial incentive – given the amount of talk that has gone on this past year about it.
But should that not come to fruition, the novelty of a Manny Pacquiao Conor McGregor boxing match would also likely garner significant interest in both the boxing and MMA communities.
UFC head honcho Dana White told TMZ YouTube (hat tip and credit) that turning down a McGregor fight by Mayweather would be unwise:
A coming together of both sets of fans (boxing and MMA) would in any shape or form be huge – to watch a fight between two of the leading names in their respective sports.
The term ‘crossover appeal’ springs to mind, which inevitably would lead to something like this becoming a very main stream sports event.
If anything, this latest twist in the McGregor boxing story could strengthen his negotiating position ever so slightly with Mayweather, as there is a new boxer now who may also want to share the ring with the fighting Irishman.
Perhaps other professional boxers will look at this and think to themselves they might also be able to lure McGregor into a boxing match.
Perhaps in their eyes generating a high and relatively safe payday as they would enjoy a significant advantage in a straight boxing match against McGregor who competes in the UFC.
The ball is progressively looking more and more in McGregor’s court in terms of negotiating however, with him being the common component in all of these call out stories.
Although his initial request of $100 million to fight Mayweather now might in reality have to come down quite a bit from those first expectations.
Whether his employers at the UFC will give him their blessing to fight a top tier boxer though, let alone allow for something like a Manny Pacquiao Conor McGregor fight, remains to be seen.
