Boxing icon and senator Manny Pacquiao gives his take on the Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor fight at UFC 257.
According to eight-division world boxing champion, Conor McGregor may have underestimated Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. The 42-year-old boxing icon/Philippine senator recently gave his take on the fight.
(Losing) is part of the game,” Pacquiao told ABS-CBN News. “Someone wins and someone loses. That’s the way it is. It’s not about the loss, but it’s about how you accept defeat in your life. How you overcome that tough time in your life.
“(McGregor) already defeated (Poirier) in their first fight, so I think he underestimated him this time.”
Before UFC 257, McGregor went on record to claim that the negotiations with the Pacquiao camp for a possible boxing match were “intensifying.” During the post-fight presser, “The Notorious” stated that the bout was “as good as done.”
From their side of things, Team Pacquiao recently gave an update through Manny Pacquiao Promotions president Sean Gibbons.
“Maybe he had the Senator on his mind,” Gibbons said of McGregor in a recent interview with The Sun. “I think the demand for the fight is not there presently. Conor has some business to clean up and handle in the UFC.
“It’s a bummer, it could have been fun for as long as it lasted, and know leg kicks would have made a world of difference.”
Recent reports claim that Pacquiao is now looking at a possible matchup against 22-year-old undefeated rising star Ryan Garcia. The two are purportedly being set up for a catchweight bout in May, but according to Golden Boy president Eric Gomez, this fight “isn’t going to happen.”