MANNY PACQUIAO has a ‘very realistic’ chance of facing Errol Spence Jr and Conor McGregor in 2021 – so long as a coronavirus vaccine is rolled out.
Pacquiao is yet to fight since taking Keith Thurman’s WBA welterweight title and unbeaten record in July 2019.
Manny Pacquiao wants to fight twice in 2021 Credit: Ryan Hafey
But the Filipino icon – who turns 42 on December 17 – recently announced plans to make up for time with two fights next year.
And Sean Gibbons, president of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, confirmed to SunSport that Spence and McGregor, as well as Terence Crawford, are among possible opponents.
But the super-fights are reliant on a vaccine paving the way for paying fans to return in full capacity venues.
Gibbons said: “It is very realistic depending on the Covid-19 situation.
“As they roll out the vaccine and hopefully get the Covid-19 spread under some control we are hopeful.
“Senator Pacquiao has never turned any fight down in his life and he sure is not now.
“The Senator is looking at all options in these very difficult times.”
Pacquiao was left impressed after Spence, 30, returned for the first time since his horror car crash to dominate Danny Garcia, 32, at the start of December.
Errol Spence Jr pictured after beating Danny Garcia Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Terence Crawford did have a deal in place to fight Pacquiao in Qatar Credit: Getty Images – Getty
And we revealed in November that WBO champion Crawford, 33, already had a deal in place to face PacMan in Qatar this year.
But the coronavirus crisis KO’d the Middle East-backed fight, with Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotion hopeful they can restart talks with Pacquiao.
Perhaps the most lucrative option for eight-division champion PacMan is UFC star McGregor.
The 32-year-old Irishman and Pacquiao both confirmed they were in negotiations earlier in the year.
But McGregor decided to commit his immediate future to the UFC as he returns to the octagon against Dustin Poirier, 31, on January 23.
Audi Attar, who has a management deal with both McGregor and Pacquiao, however, did confirm the superstars still intend to fight next year.
Pacquiao is yet to fight since taking Keith Thurman’s WBA welterweight titleCredit: Sean Michael Ham
Conor McGregor was in talks to face Pacquiao Credit: Reuters
Attar told The National: “Both fighters want it. There’s no way Conor’s looking past Dustin, so he’s just trying to focus on what he can control.
“But the fans want it – there’s serious interest from all fans from all around the world – and both fighters want it. It’s hard not to make it happen.
“Manny Pacquiao sees Conor McGregor as a real threat and a real formidable opponent.
“And he has his own plans politically; he’s a machine in what he does. Either of them isn’t trying to go fight YouTubers next.
“At the end of the day, I don’t see why it shouldn’t happen.
“As we saw in 2020, you can never count anything out any more, but right now the intention is for that to happen in 2021.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
