EVANDER HOLYFIELD has revealed he would happily coach UFC superstar Conor McGregor for a blockbuster fight with Manny Pacquiao.
The UFC’s poster boy revealed last September that a multi-million-pound showdown with the eight-weight world champion was in the works.
Conor McGregor teased a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao last SeptemberCredit: Getty
Manny Pacquiao is represented by the same management company as the UFC’s poster boyCredit: AP
McGregor, 32, entered the boxing world in 2017 to take part in a much-maligned fight with Floyd Mayweather, which he lost via tenth-round TKO.
And for heavyweight champ Holyfield is open to helping the Irishman prepare for Pacman, telling SunSport: “If I was asked then I would go out to him and say to him, ‘You know what, do this thing.’
“The thing is that I’m not a ‘coach’. I can give him good advice, but I’d have someone else hold the hand pads – I don’t know how to hold hand pads! – I came up hitting hands pads.
“So, it’s like Mayweather, he doesn’t know how to hold hand pads like coaches do. But he was a good fighter.
“There are a lot of things fighters don’t do real well if they were to coach. Because they were great fighters, so it’s kind of different. But it’s easy to give directions and advice, but show someone how to do something is different.”
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Although Holyfield has a vast amount of knowledge to share with The Notorious, he admits bestowing it all would also have its downsides.
He added: “The thing is I know boxing, but I realise the more you tell a person what to do it’s going to make him slow because a guy can get confused while in a fight with too much information – in boxing it’s all about reaction, pa pa pa, pa, you don’t get a chance to consciously think for two seconds where you think to yourself, ‘OK, I got to do this. I can keep the feet like that.’
“Every time you come into a certain distance it’s an instant reaction you have to get your punches out.
“This is what you have to do. So, what I’m talking about is the person with the advantage – Manny against McGregor – is always the guy who’s been doing it longer.”
Should the fight come to fruition, Holyfield reckons Pacquiao, 42, would have a lot less to worry about than the UFC’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion.
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield would happily coach Conor McGregor for a fight with Manny PacquiaoCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The Real Deal said: “Pacquiao won’t have to think much as it’s going to be a boxing match compared to Conor McGregor.
“The fact of the matter is you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘What was Mayweather’s purpose?’ His purpose was to win, and he won.
“He realised he could’ve put pressure on in such a fierce pace on Conor McGregor and could have made him give up earlier.
“There are a lot of things to factor in. You’ve got to have a plan on what you want to do.
“And how to make this thing interesting, you know, it’s entertaining. Entertaining to the people is the idea. So, what is entertaining?
“So if you go out there and if you have the ability to knock out the guy in 30 seconds, or people get chance to see a great entertaining fight with the two.
“They could knock each other out – they are very tough guys, so either way it’s about the performance itself.
“Everybody knows that Pacquiao is a good fighter, and everybody knows if Mayweather was good then Pacquiao is as good.
“He’s as good as Mayweather I believe. It’s pretty much just like a person has a certain gift, your gift is writing, or someone’s gift is speaking, and someone who tries to compete with you the other person is going to find it quite difficult .
“What is the gift that God gave you? This is the question. It’s something that you’ve known whole your life.”
McGregor, 32, is currently preparing for his UFC 257 rematch with Dustin Poirier, which takes place a week on Saturday on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, currently doesn’t have a fight booked but intends to compete twice this year
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
