The boxing showdown between WBA welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao and mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor was supposed to be a done deal. All McGregor had to do was breeze past a “sacrificial lamb,” and a potential $100-million payday was in the bag.
Dustin Poirier was actually handpicked to make McGregor look good. Poirier, who was demolished in less than two minutes by McGregor in 2014, offered a boxing style that made for the ideal boxing “tune-up” for McGregor. Lo and behold, McGregor slipped on the “banana peel” and fell hard on the canvas.
Poirier knocked out McGregor clean in the second round with an offensive avalanche that was capped by a devastating right hook. McGregor was out cold, as in Sleeping Beauty cold.
The result triggered shockwaves felt from the UFC neighborhood to the pro boxing circle. McGregor blamed the loss to inactivity; he was away from the UFC for over a year and claimed the time away was a “wild ride.” He did promise to return, most likely to pursue a rubber match with Poirier.
Even if McGregor avenges the loss to Poirier, it is safe to say that the lucrative showdown with Pacquiao is gone with the wind. Rough estimates had Pacquiao-McGregor raking in around $250 million in revenues, but with interest in the fight greatly diminished, it will be difficult to sell it at this point in time. Pacquiao, 42, no longer has the luxury of time, which explains why he wanted the fight to happen this year.
Truth be told, Poirier did McGregor a favor. Imagine the beating Pacquiao would have administered on McGregor had their fight pushed through. McGregor would have been embalmed alive. McGregor is great as a mixed martial arts fighter, but his boxing skills are marginal. To some extent, Poirier saved McGregor from a devastating knockout loss against Pacquiao.
With McGregor’s attention now focused on a third match with Poirier, it is back to strictly boxing business for Pacquiao. The WBA champ is itching to get back in the ring, and a surprise opponent has surfaced in lightweight contender Ryan Garcia.
Garcia, 22, recently posted in his social media accounts that he has clinched a fight with Pacquiao, but the announcement was really more of an “advertising flyer.” Garcia, who has a huge following on social media, was looking to get everybody’s attention with his pronouncement. Pacquiao has been relatively coy on the matter, even claiming that Garcia is too young for him. Then again, if Garcia’s flyer attracts attention and gets fight fans excited, it may just convince Pacquiao’s camp to formally sit down on the negotiating table.
Pacquiao really has nothing to gain in fighting Garcia, who is still very raw on the defensive side and the big-fight experience. In his recent outing, Garcia’s defensive lapses were exposed when he had to pick himself up from the canvas to beat Briton Luke Campbell.
Garcia, however, is an easy fight to make. He (21-0, 18 knockouts) is likely to accept any offer from Pacquiao as he stands to earn a career-high payday. Even if the revenue sharing is 70-30 in favor of Pacquiao, he will still take home a financial bonanza.
The only issue will be weight as Garcia currently campaigns in the 135-pound class and will have to bulk up considerably to face Pacquiao at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds.
There are rumors swirling that, as a compromise, Garcia-Pacquiao could end up being just an exhibition bout. If this is true, they might as well call off the fight. It will be an insult to the sport, a clear rip-off, if two legitimate boxers settle for a mere exhibition.
One can accept the exhibition tag given to the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones skirmish because the two had clearly seen better days. But Pacquiao and Garcia are still competitive and fully capable of putting on an explosive fight. The argument that Garcia is very young and could be seriously hurt against a veteran like Pacquiao is hogwash. Heck, Wilfredo Benitez was only 17 years old when he faced and defeated veteran Antonio Cervantes in March 1976 for the WBA junior welterweight title. Exhibitions are for retired boxing legends and celebrity matches. If Pacquiao-Garcia is not a real fight, forget it.
As Pacquiao mulls his next move, surely, he cannot help but shake his head at the way the fight with McGregor disintegrated before his eyes. Like McGregor, Pacquiao lost a bundle, but the boxing world is really better off without Pacquiao-McGregor. The sport needs real boxing contests involving its legitimate boxing champions.
