Manny Pacquiao is ready to return to the squad and make clear their priorities when closing rival for their next rival. The Filipino wants to try new things, face a mixed martial arts fighter, and the chosen one is Conor McGregor.
At first the Filipino challenger was to emerge from a shortlist composed by Crawford, Errol Spence Jr. and McGregor. But the first two were ruled out by the Filipino boxer himself: “These are my options, but I want to experience a fight against an MMA fighter first.”
Pacquiao, 42, has not fought since July 2019 when he beat Keith Thurman by split decision and McGregor is scheduled to return to the cage against Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23 during UFC 257. Audi Attar, who handles the Pacquiao and McGregor races, argued that the duel would take place this year. “I definitely think it’s inevitable,” he told The Sun.
McGregor stepped up the experience of doing a boxing fight. In August 2017 he faced Floyd Mayweather Jr. and lost by technical knockout. The fight brought him $ 100 million in revenue and facing Pacquiao could mean another substantial sum of money for his bank account and, if there is no rush, the Irish themselves will be willing to be a promoter of this.
Since 2016, Pacquiao has been serving as a senator in his tenure. In recent months, the fight against coronavirus and the monsoon season have taken him away from the sports world. Today, with the news of the fight, the boxer announced that much of the money raised will be used to limit the advance of the pandemic to his homeland.