Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
A coach for Manny Pacquiao told The Manila Times he doesn’t understand the appeal of a fight with Conor McGregor.
It remains to be seen if there are any legs to all the hinting that has been going on about a potential super fight between boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and former UFC champion Conor McGregor.
This all feels a little nostalgic. A few years ago many thought it was ludicrous to suggest McGregor might box Floyd Mayweather Jr. But in August 2017, those who wrote off the idea were forced to eat humble pie.
Rumours around McGregor and Pacquiao facing off were sparked recently when McGregor tweeted in Pacquiao’s native tongue. The fact Pacquiao recently signed with Paradigm Sports Management, which also represents McGregor, also helped power the rumour mill.
Among the doubters over the possibility the fight happens, as well as the appeal of such a spectacle, is Justin Fortune, Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach.
Recently he spoke with The Manila Times, where he talked up his famous client and thoroughly bashed the brash Irish MMA star.
“Why even make that guy rich?” said Fortune (via MMA Junkie). “And it won’t do absolutely nothing for Pacquiao as far as his legacy (is concerned). Remember, this is just my opinion: Manny goes down as the greatest fighter in history when he finishes, because no one has done what he accomplished in boxing.
“Why destroy your legacy for a bum like McGregor?”
If Pacquaio does put his legacy on the line, Fortune was—of course—confident that his man would be the victor.
“Manny will destroy Conor McGregor inside three rounds,” he said. “He will obliterate him. Too fast and too strong as an amazing fighter. McGregor is nothing. I mean, my God, this is boxing; we are boxers. McGregor is an MMA guy, and we can’t do MMA, and he can’t box. That’s very simple.”
Whether McGregor returns to a boxing ring or an MMA cage seems up in the air. The reigning UFC pay-per-view king is supposedly retired, but that’s never counted for much in combat sports.