SPORTS SHORTS 30: CONOR MCGREGOR HOPES TO WIN A WORLD BOXING TITLE AGAINST MANNY PACQUIAO THIS YEAR
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 20 Jan 2021
Conor McGregor thinks positively that his fight against eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will take place sometime this year 2021. He told The Mac Life that he aims to win a boxing title and he would be more happy if it would be against Pacquiao. “I know that talks are intensifying for [a fight] this year. I am excited for a Manny Pacquiao bout and it looks like it will happen this year. What time this year? I am not sure,” said McGregor as quoted by BoxingScene.
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“We’ll have to have some good discussions with [UFC President] Dana White and the UFC and see where it goes. I am open to it all, ready for it all. I will certainly attain a boxing world title before I call it a day. And I would be excited to do that against Emmanuel Pacquiao.” McGregor is scheduled for a much awaited rematch with Dustin Poirier in the UFC, but the Irish martial artist is already looking beyond for his next MMA fight and this time in boxing.
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Dana White, the UFC boss would love to see him focused on his fights at the UFC. He wants The Notorious to take another shot at the title against Khabib Nurmagomedov or fight for the title against another MMA fighter if Khabib retires and defend that title. But both camps of Pacquiao and McGregor already agreed to fight each other and only the details of the business side have yet to be agreed upon.
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Phil Sutcliffe, McGregor's boxing coach, said in an interview with ESPN, that McGregor could take on Pacquiao in a boxing match after his rematch against Poirier in UFC 257 on January 23 in Abu Dhabi. “85-90 percent chance, maybe April, March,” said Sutcliffe. “March, April or May. I’d like him to be in a boxing camp for at least two months.”
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The fight between Pacquiao and McGregor is seen as a huge pay-per-view event since both are mega draws. McGregor’s bout against Mayweather gave him $85 million. Pacquiao, on the other hand, holds the record for the biggest PPV sales in sports history when his Fight of the Century against Mayweather earned 4.6 million buys.
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Conor McGregor is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight champion. As of November 23, 2020, he is ranked No. 12 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings and as of December 24, 2020, he is No. 4 in the UFC lightweight rankings. Nicknamed "The Notorious," age 32 years, he was born in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland. He stands 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) and weighs 170 lb (77 kg). He has 22 wins, 19 by KO, with 4 losses in MMA and one loss by KO in the only boxing fight with Mayweather.
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Audie Attar, the manager of Paradigm Sports Promotions which is negotiating the McGregor and Pacquiao, believes Floyd Mayweather would lose to both fighters if he fought them in 2020. “I do believe [if we see] Conor vs. Floyd again, [McGregor] beats him,” Attar said on Dubai Eye 103.8 Sport. “I don’t think Floyd ever takes it. He’ll take a Logan Paul. He’ll take the young Japanese fighter he fought previously. I think that’s what he’s going to do. Floyd knows he would lose if he took on either Manny Pacquiao or Conor McGregor.”
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Luis "Pantera" Nery (31-0, 24 KO's), wants to be the undisputed king of the super bantamweight division. Zanfer Promotions CEO Fernando Beltrán, announced that his company is already planning fights for the 122-pound world champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC). And they will encourage him to unify his title with the other champions in the weight class. Nery, age 26 years of Tijuana, Mexico, won his current WBC title after defeating Aaron Alameda (25-1, 13 KO's), age 27 years of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, in a tremendous fight, by unanimous decision on September 26.
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There is a great possibility that he will face undefeated surging fighter Brandon Figueroa (20-0-1, 16 KO's), age 24 years of Weslaco, Texas, who is currently the WBA "regular" super bantamweight champion. "Nery will be in the ring very soon. There is nothing concrete yet,” said Beltran as quoted by Marcos Romero. “We hope it will be completed in the short term. Only some small details are stopping us, but it is what is intended: a unification."
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Stephen Curry scored 26 points on Monday night as the Golden State Warriors rallied from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-113. Lakers surged to a 19-point lead in the first quarter and took the lead in the first 42 minutes. The Lakers were 6 of 19 from the field in the fourth period after shooting 53% from the floor in the first three quarters. Golden State was 14 of 23 in the final 12 minutes of the game.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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