Pac it in Conor, you don’t need the Manny
SLIDE down a 20-foot razor blade using only my testicles as a brake. Have a cup of tea with Vladimir Putin. Get rugby tackled by Sonny Bill Williams. Listen on repeat to Celine Dion’s My Heart Will
Go On for an entire year. Moderate the next US Presidential debate.
All of these things I would rather do than live through Conor McGregor v Manny Pacquiao, should it happen.
When it comes to the case against, it’s hard to know where to start, but August 26, 2017, in Paradise, Nevada, is as good a place as any.
The Money Fight, between the Notorious one and Floyd Mayweather Jnr, did exactly what it said on the tin, generating the second highest pay-perview audience of all time.
The build-up was like nothing we had ever seen, the trash talk outrageous and, at times, deplorable, but it was almost impossible to look away.
The key to it all was that it was never truly boxing. It was novelty. We knew we were being duped but we willingly accepted the farce and embraced the pantomime. That’s on us. Nobody was forced to watch it. More power to them for pulling off the heist. Cash the cheques, boys.
In the ring, a semi-trained Floyd, who had long since retired from the business of knocking anyone out, toyed with an opponent who couldn’t have beaten him had his feet been tied together. In the ninth round, Mayweather opened up (below) and in the tenth it was over.
That night against Mayweather was a fascinating circus, whereas this fight has the potential to be a genuine boxing match, and that is frightening.
Pacquiao may be about to light the candles on his 42nd birthday cake, and it will be 18 months at least out of the ring if this was to be his next fight, but even in the autumn of his career, he is a different beast altogether.
Manny’s idea of rope-a-dope is throwing 40 punches per round. He is still relentless, still aggressive and still fast. He may not the wrecking ball he once was but, in boxing terms, he is still as nasty as ever. If he takes this fight seriously, then his trainer Freddy Roach is right when he says that it will make his two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton look like a romantic first date.
Of course, he absolutely doesn’t need to. About fifty sit-ups on the morning of the fight would do it, but herein lies the problem. Manny Pacquiao doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘unprepared’. He is a buzzsaw, a juggernaut, who has no natural instinct to do anything other than put his foot on the gas.
The idea of the EIGHT-DIVISION world champion turning up in full fight mode against a boxing novice whose strengths lie in an octagon is genuinely alarming. PacMan has pledged to donate the vast majority of his purse to help those in his native Philippines who have been affected by Covid-19, which is admirable, but it is McGregor who will need his charity should this go ahead.
If it’s a massive payday Manny wants for the greater good, then why not lure Mayweather out of retirement for a rematch? It’s not a fight I feel like I need to see, but it is a million times more appealing than this. Furthermore, he doesn’t have many big nights left in him, so to waste one of them on this would be a crying shame.
If it does go ahead, it will follow the same blueprint as its predecessor. ‘Leaked’ stories about how impressive McGregor looks in training, press conferences that leave us openmouthed and a constant debate about whether or not it’s a ‘real’ fight. For Conor McGregor’s sake, let’s hope that Manny Pacquiao doesn’t think it is.