Mixed martial arts star Conor “The Notorious” McGregor is booked to take on Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 this weekend and if everything goes according to plan, a fight with boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is likely next in his agenda.
Once a figment of the imagination, Pacquiao-McGregor is now on the verge of becoming a reality. The negotiations for the fight arguably picked up steam following the financial success of the recent exhibition bout between boxing fossils Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. If two washed up legends were able to generate truckloads of money for a mere sparring session, there is no doubting the fact that Pacquiao-McGregor will be a bigger financial bonanza. There have been rough estimates that the fight can easily generate revenues in the vicinity of $250 million, possibly more if it is held before a live audience.
McGregor has said that a fight with Pacquiao is “almost a certainty” and that it should happen this year. He hinted that the fight contract is already being ironed out.
McGregor is 0-1 as a pro boxer. He entered pro boxing in August 2017 and lost by knockout in 10 rounds to American Floyd Mayweather Jr. The fight was a monster pay-per-view hit and left the door open for McGregor’s return to the punch-for-pay business. McGregor actually talked about facing Pacquiao last year, but negotiations fell through because the coronavirus pandemic basically wiped out the boxing calendar.
Pacquiao expressed interest in facing McGregor, adding that the prospect of a fight against a mixed martial arts star intrigues him. Pacquiao risks being stripped of his WBA welterweight crown if he picks McGregor instead of a ranked boxing challenger, but at this stage in his career Pacquiao does not need a world title to sell his fights. It will even be an insult to the sport if McGregor is allowed to fight for Pacquiao’s WBA crown (then again, it will not be a surprise if the WBA creates another meaningless crown just to be part of the fight). Fight fans are intrigued not at the title, but on whether Pacquiao will be able to top Mayweather’s performance against McGregor. Compared to Mayweather, Pacquiao offers a more aggressive style and is expected to come out with both guns blazing against McGregor.
A breakthrough in the negotiations came when Pacquiao inked a deal with Paradigm Sports Management Co., a California-based talent representation firm that also counts McGregor as one of its clients.
Paradigm was one of the parties responsible for bringing about McGregor-Mayweather and word has it that the firm immediately buckled down to work after Pacquiao hopped aboard. Reportedly, the head honchos of Paradigm discussed the boxing match with the UFC and pitched the idea of McGregor facing Poirier in a rematch before the super fight with Pacquiao.
Make no mistake, McGregor still has options on the table after the Poirier fight, including a possible return bout with the currently retired Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight crown, but it is the fight with Pacquiao that offers big money. Regardless of his choice, McGregor is in a must-win situation. Truth be told, a win by McGregor over Poirier would be his most notable victory since he stopped Eddie Alvarez some five years ago for the lightweight crown.
UFC President Dana White wants to maximize McGregor at the octagon but admits that a return to boxing for a fight with Pacquiao is a lucrative, almost an irresistible option. McGregor has also said that he wants to win a world boxing title before he retires, but he has to earn the title shot. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman mused that McGregor must beat a Top-15 ranked boxing contender to qualify for a shot at one of its titles. Well, that sounds like a lot of hard work and McGregor might as well go for the big bucks an immediate fight with Pacquiao brings.
