Pacquiao-mcgregor fight needs 2nd look

WILL Manny Pacquiao still fight Conor Mcgregor?

Only a fool would say, yes. Mcgregor was knocked out by Dustin Poirier last weekend in a UFC fight that he was supposed to win.

That’s because prior to that bout in Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, Mcgregor knocked Poirier out in the first round.

That’s why after Poirier’s vengeful win by a decisive second-round knockout of Mcgregor, the planned Pacquiao-mcgregor fight is not only in jeopardy, but should be a virtual no-go.

Although formal fight talks have yet to commence, the question for the moment is, will Mcgregor still be a fitting foe for Pacquiao? I doubt.

If last Sunday’s fight would be the gauge, Mcgregor was a screaming proof of a fighter that had seen better days. Fit for pastureland. At 32, he fought like a 42-year-old washout.

A pathetic sight in the first round where he practically groped for form, Mcgregor was picture-perfect for the slaughterhouse.

Poirier, exploding with well-timed leg kicks followed by a flurry of punches to the face, knocked down a totally out-of-shape Mcgregor in the rematch that took six-and-a-half years of planning.

When the referee waived Mcgregor out in 2:32 of the second round, it sort of also signaled what could be the end of the Irishman’s checkered career.

“I’m happy but I’m not surprised,” Poirier said. “I put in the work.”

Before the win, the 32-year-old Poirier, from Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, was on a 10-2, win-loss run, making Mcgregor the fifth former champion he had beaten in his last 13 fights.

But Mcgregor’s rustiness was too visible, obviously the result of fighting only three times in the last four-and-a-half years prior to the Poirier fight.

“It’s hard to overcome inactivity,” said Mcgregor, a former two-division UFC champ. “You don’t get away with being inactive in this business.”

One of Mcgregor’s three fights was that infamous 10th-round TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on August 26, 2017, with both stashing away millions.

Mayweather alone pocketed $275 million in just 28 minutes of that crossover bout, dubbed as “the biggest fight in combat sports history.”

So that you are a hypocrite if you say Pacquiao isn’t thrilled with the mega-money promise an encounter with Mcgregor could bring to the ring.

But, alas, that might not be the case anymore.

With Mcgregor’s stunning loss to Poirier, it’d be best for Pacquiao to now look the other way.

Or is Pacquiao that desperate for attention, if not dough, given that the presidential election is but a breath away?

Ambition blinds. At times.