MANNY PACQUIAO has ‘no interest’ in facing Conor McGregor after fighting Errol Spence Jr, his long-time coach Freddie Roach has said.
Pacquiao was last year in talks with former two-weight UFC champion McGregor, who lost his boxing debut to Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
But after the Irishman was knocked out in his rematch with Dustin Poirier – the man he beat in 2014 – it shelved the crossover fight.
McGregor, 33, later lost his trilogy bout with Poirier, 32, by doctor stoppage after suffering a horror leg break seconds before round one ended.
All while PacMan, 42, signed to fight unbeaten welterweight champ Spence, 31, set for August 21 in Las Vegas.
And afterwards talk of Pacquiao and McGregor boxing should be a thing of the past, if Hall of Fame trainer Roach had it his way.
He told SunSport: “That sport is a little bit different, it’s just not boxing.
“Manny does not have any interest in fighting an MMA fighter, he wants to fight the best fighters out there.
‘NOT GOING TO BE McGREGOR’
“If he can’t be at that level at boxing, then he doesn’t want to be boxing. He will retire and hopefully become president of his country.
“If there is another fight after this it’s not going to be McGregor, it’s going to be one of the best guys out there.
“It’s not going to be a guy from another sport. Manny and Georges St-Pierre are friends and so forth but the sports just do not match up well together.
“I want to see good boxing and that’s what you get from Manny Pacquiao. He’s always fought the best out there.”
Pacquiao will have been out the ring for over two years by the time he makes his return against Spence.
He has not fought since July 2019, when he beat Keith Thurman, 32, to win the WBA title.
‘COUPLE OF GUYS I WORRY ABOUT’
Despite the extensive layoff amid the coronavirus pandemic, which saw him stripped of the belt, PacMan wanted only to challenge the best in the boxing business.
And that led to talks with Spence, the unified WBC and IBF king, and undefeated Terence Crawford, 33, also a pound-for-pound star.
With the Filipino great showing no signs of slowing down, Roach is well aware of the dangers potentially ahead.
And that all starts with Spence, who is 27-0 with 21 knockouts, leaving Pacquiao ordered to fight to a strict game plan.
Roach said: “There’s a couple of guys I worry about, because they’re younger, they’re stronger and have very difficult styles.
“But Spence, I do like because he’s flat-footed, he’s heavy on his feet and he gets tired in the latter rounds.
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“I told Manny, ‘We have to start quick in this fight. We can’t stay in the pocket.
“Get off your combinations and you’re going to get right out the way because he’s going to hit you back’.
“He does have good power. There is a couple fights out there we could fight, but Manny wants to fight the best guys out there.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
