Manny Pacquiao: If Floyd Mayweather Won’t Fight Conor McGregor, I will
The Filipino boxer is entering his name into the long-simmering war of words over the rumored matchup, right as UFC president Dana White chips in a few more thoughts.
Despite their constant back-and-forth over social media, UFC superstar Conor McGregor and boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather don’t look like they’ll ever get their long-rumored fight.
But what if another superstar boxer steps into the ring?
Manny Pacquiao, who previously lost to Mayweather in 2015, said he would be up for taking on the MMA champion, but not in the Octagon.
“I don’t know if they (Mayweather-McGregor) are taking it seriously. It’s on the news but I don’t know if it will happen,” Pacquiao said to Fox Sports News 500. “If McGregor will fight me in boxing, why not? But not in MMA. MMA is much different than boxing.”
The 38-year-old boxer continues to get into the ring while also serving as a senator in the Philippines. Pacquiao won his last match against Jessie Vargas in November and is in the process of setting up another fight with Australian Jeff Horn.
Even though Pacquiao would be willing to fight McGregor, someone with some power in the situation also had an opinion on the bout: UFC president Dana White, who previously offered $25 million to McGregor and Mayweather for their potential battle. White put a damper on Pacquiao’s offer, commenting about Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter and CEO of Top Rank boxing.
“Listen, I love Manny Pacquiao,” White said to Yahoo Sports. “But I don’t love Bob Arum. You can tell Arum to save his money and not make any calls over here because we aren’t doing business with him.”
A fight between Mayweather and McGregor looks like a long shot at this point, but as long as Pacquiao remains interested and the two stars stay on social media, there’s no telling where this could end up eventually.
