Manny Pacquiao is out of retirement, and he wants to face Conor McGregor.
‘PacMan’ retired from professional boxing following a 2021 unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas. However, almost as soon as Manny Pacquiao retired from boxing, he began to tease a comeback. Many figured that the boxer retired from fighting, mainly to focus on his run for President of the Philippines.
However, he lost badly in the 2022 general election. After the defeat, Manny Pacquiao began to plan for several exhibition boxing matches, similar to his rival, Floyd Mayweather. Late that year, he defeated Korean influencer DK Yoo by unanimous decision. Later this year, he’s expected to face Buakaw, as well as Mayweather in yet another exhibition.
However, Manny Pacquiao is back for a lot more than just exhibition boxing matches. Earlier this week, his representative, Sean Gibbons, gave an interview with BoxingScene. There, he confirmed that the eight-division champion was interested in several professionally-sanctioned fights, including against former UFC champion Conor McGregor.
In the interview, Gibbons also name-dropped stars such as Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis as potential opponents. However, the advisor seemed to like the sound of Manny Pacquiao vs. Conor McGregor quite a lot. Gibbons even pitched Saudi Arabia as a potential location for the fight itself.
Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao targets Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis, and Conor McGregor
“Technically he’s out of retirement,” Sean Gibbons stated in a recent interview. “He would love to fight Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia. He’s got about a year left. He just wants to fight. Manny feels that he’s in tremendous shape. He’s training for this exhibition but hopefully that will lead to something bigger and better. I do [see a pro return for Pacquiao]. One of the fights that people talked about for a long time was Manny Pacquiao versus Conor McGregor.”
He continued, “That’s something that will be sensational in Saudi Arabia, let’s go. It will be a good place to do it. It’s really simple. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, [the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia], loves big events, and he’s putting on the best events. It’s a very intriguing and fun fight bringing two of the biggest names together in combat sports.”
For those who can remember, this is far from the first time that Manny Pacquaio vs. Conor McGregor has been discussed. In 2020, ‘The Notorious’ announced plans to face the former boxing champion in the Middle East, but no fight came to fruition. Four years later, it seems there’s some renewed interest from Pacquiao’s side.
The mention of Saudi Arabia from Gibbions is interesting, though. Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh revealed in an interview last month that he lobbied the UFC to have Conor McGregor fight in Saudi Arabia. With Manny Pacquiao now returning, one has to wonder if that bout could possibly be a boxing match.