Conor McGregor has confirmed that talks are tense for a fight with Manny Pacquiao’s boxing legend. This statement comes days after his boxing coach Phil Sutcliffe also said there was a high chance the fight would happen. The UFC star is currently preparing for a show with Dustin Priorier at the octagon on January 23rd.
Commenting on a program of Weighing In, ‘The Notorious’ said:
“I know those talks (with Pacquiao) are becoming increasingly intense and I believe this year, maybe late this year, that will happen. And in fact, it will be a conversation with him. I don’t want to sit around, where do we go with this, what now? I don’t want to sit around, I want to continue in a competition, I’m at my best. How can I be at the top if I have a bout and a year passes, (then) I have another bout? ”
The game could be simple to organize as both fighters are managed by the same company, Paradigm Sport.
McGregor comes out of a year-long inactive spell while Pacquiao’s last fight was in 2019, defeating Keith Thurman to win the WBA (Super) welterweight title. That impact made him the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40 and the first boxer in history to become a well-known four-time welterweight champion.
Conor McGregor aims for world title with Pacquiao tournament
McGregor has not hidden his desire to take the world title belt off Pacquiao. In a previous interview with Mac Life, he said:
“I’m totally open to it, ready for it. I’ll definitely get a boxing world title before I add a day. And I would have been excited to do that against Emmanuel Pacquiao.”
‘The Notorious’ had only one fight in the boxing ring, defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr. four years ago. But with Pacquiao preferring to compete with an MMA star over Mikey Garcia or Terrence Crawford, McGregor looks forward to the bout.
“They (Spence and Crawford) are my options, but right now I want to experience MMA fighting [mixed martial artist], “Pacquiao told Business Mirror recently.
Published January 15, 2021, 06:23 IST