Manny Pacquiao is not interested in fighting Conor McGregor ‘right now’ after a shock loss to Dustin Poirer, admits the Filipino promoter who says the Irishman has ‘business to clean up’ before prevent it
- Conor McGregor plans to fight Manny Pacquiao in a tattoo after losing KO
- Dustin Poirer surprised ‘Notorious’ at UFC 257 when he returned to the UFC
- Pacquiao’s promoter says he’s not interested in fighting McGregor ‘right now’
- Sean Gibbons believes he has ‘business to clean up’ before joining Pacman
Promoter Manny Pacquiao believes the bid to fight Conor McGregor in a crossover bout is not ‘right now’ following the Irishman’s terrible loss to Dustin Poirer.
‘Notorious’ was expected to push his rival to one side when he returned to the UFC and set himself up for a winning fight against the famous Filipino boxer, but was relegated to reality after for him to be stopped in Round 2 against America at Island fight.
The Irishman had said the result against ‘Pacman’ was ‘almost certain’, but Sean Gibbons, the president of promotions Manny Pacquiao, played out hopes of a game up in the future, and said that McGregor’s job had to be done before the fight could begin.
Promoter Manny Paquiao believes there is no demand for Conor McGregor’s fight ‘right now’
McGregor missed a big loss against Dustin Poirer as he was suspended in the second round
‘Notoious’ had said that fighting Pacman was ‘almost certain’ before he lost hard
‘Very unfortunate, he looked like Conor looking past Dustin and getting out,’ he told The Sun.
‘Maybe his Senator was on his mind. I think the demand for the fight doesn’t exist right now.
‘Conor has some business to clean and handle in the UFC.
‘It’s a bummer, it could be fun as long as it lasted and you know that footprints would have made a different world. ‘
Sean Gibbons (R) says McGregor has ‘business to clean up’ before Pacquiao (L) can take over
The Irishman admitted that he was not sure what lay ahead after a serious deal
Pacquiao – the world champion of eight divisions – is now said to be heading for a fight with light star Ryan Garcia, with McGregor facing an uncertain future in the sport. He had also been fishing for a replay against Russian champion Khabib Nurmagomedov – who retired last year but is considering a comeback.
But the nature of McGregor’s loss may make him think twice, telling UFC president Dana White after the fight: ‘Be honest with yourself, I’m so high above those people.’
Khabib joined his rival after suffering a major loss, writing in a Tweet: ‘This is what happened (sic), when you change your team,’ Khabib said on Twitter.
McGregor won around £ 18m from the fight but will miss out on some big fights this year.
‘Leave the sparring partners you made as a hero and push with small children, far from reality.’
McGregor, who is said to have won around £ 18 million since losing, admitted the deal to fight Pacquaio was ‘as good as he did’ and said he was unsure of what lay ahead two.
‘I’ve always wanted to focus on my MMA career but I’m also open. I’ll see exactly what happens. I don’t know what will happen.
‘That Manny fight was happening. It was so good. I just want to get in and get back into kicking, especially against that fighting style, and not taking those kicks. ‘
This week he joked that he was already diligently trying to rebuild his career after being pictured on an excavator in Dubai.
‘Back on the sites, it happens to be our favorite. Let’s take it back to #DublinMiniDiggers ’, McGregor wrote along with a video of it inside the device.