Pacquiao willing to fight McGregor

WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao is willing to fight mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor if his potential superfight with Floyd Mayweather fails to materialise, a spokesman said yesterday.

But the Filipino boxing hero-turned-senator stressed that such a fight would have to be a boxing bout, not an MMA contest.

“If McGregor will fight me in boxing, why not? But not in MMA.

“MMA is much different than boxing,” a spokesman quoted Pacquiao as saying.

Both Pacquiao, 38, and McGregor, 28, have been trying to lure the retired Mayweather back into the boxing ring.

For Pacquiao, it would be a chance to avenge his defeat to Mayweather at their long-awaited showdown in 2015.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s McGregor, the first man to simultaneously hold Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) titles in two weight divisions, has floated the idea of taking on the undefeated Mayweather, 39.

In November, McGregor was issued a boxing licence in the state of California in a development that fuelled speculation about a future showdown with Mayweather.

Mayweather said that a McGregor bout was the only thing that could tempt him back into the ring.

UFC boss Dana White offered to pay each $25-million (R340-million), along with a cut of TV proceeds, to fight – an offer that Mayweather later batted down.

Pacquiao said in April last year that he would quit the ring for politics. But he soon made a comeback.

In November, Pacquiao reclaimed the World Boxing Organisation welterweight title by beating former champion Jesse Vargas in Las Vegas.