22 November 2020

Conor McGregor will ‘definitely’ box Manny Pacquiao despite octagon return in January, says shared manager

Conor McGregor will return to boxing to face Manny Pacquiao in the future, the manager of both men has revealed.

Audie Attar of Paradigm Sports Management, who represents both McGregor and Pacquiao, has confirmed the crossover bout will take place despite the Irishman announcing an MMA clash with Dustin Poirier on January 23.

McGregor teased fans with this poster on Twitter earlier this year, but plans for a Pacquiao clash have now been pushed back

(Twitter: @BloodyFist2)

"Conor has a fight Jan. 23 against Dustin Poirier," Attar said in an interview with Bloomberg.

"He’s gonna be handling business against Dustin first, but Conor’s come out and said he wants to fight Manny. Manny’s come out and said he wants to fight Conor. 

"As I’ve stated publicly before, we’ve had conversations.

"That is a fight that we’re definitely going to make because both fighters want it, and there seems to be interest from the fans all around the world."

And he has not boxed since he made his professional debut against Floyd Mayweather way back in August 2017.

Meanwhile, WBA welterweight champion Pacquiao’s last bout came against Keith Thurman in July 2019 and he does not have any opponent currently lined up.

The Filipino, who is an eight-weight world champion, turns 42 years of age next month and is nearly a decade older than McGregor.

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