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Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao isn’t the type to talk noise about his potential opponents through the media, but that doesn’t mean the various people Pacquiao employs as coaches won’t do it on his behalf. Justin Fortune, Pacquiao’s longtime strength and conditioning coach, revealed some candid thoughts to the Manilla Times about his fighter’s potential superfight boxing match against UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
“Manny will destroy Conor McGregor inside three rounds,” Fortune said. “He will obliterate him. Too fast and too strong as an amazing fighter. McGregor is nothing.”
Coach: ‘McGregor Is an MMA Guy’
For Fortune, it all boils down to Pacquiao’s elite skills as a professional boxer and vast experience at the top of the sport.
Pacquiao is the only fighter in boxing history to win world titles in eight different weight classes, and Fortune doesn’t believe McGregor would be able to deal with Pacquiao’s rare blend of speed and power.
“I mean, my God, this is boxing; we are boxers,” Fortuna said. “McGregor is an MMA guy, and we can’t do MMA, and he can’t box. That’s very simple.”
Coach: ‘Why Destroy Your Legacy for a Bum Like McGregor?’
Still, despite Fortune’s prediction for the fight, he said he still wouldn’t want to see the blockbuster fight actually happen. Instead, Pacquiao’s fitness coach seems to hope the 41-year-old welterweight boxing champion skips out on it.
“Why even make that guy rich?” Fortune said. “And it won’t do absolutely nothing for Pacquiao as far as his legacy (is concerned). Remember, this is just my opinion: Manny goes down as the greatest fighter in history when he finishes, because no one has done what he accomplished in boxing.”
Fortune said he doesn’t want to see Pacquiao hurt his legacy by facing the popular MMA fighter in a boxing match.
“Why destroy your legacy for a bum like McGregor?”
Regardless, Pacquiao vs. McGregor still seems to be a legitimate possibility at this point. Pacquiao has yet to announce his next fight, and McGregor retired from MMA in June and keeps teasing a return to the boxing ring.
McGregor’s Boxing Credentials and Possible Future Inside Ring
McGregor is 0-1 as a professional boxer. The Irishman lost via 10th-round stoppage to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017.
But McGregor has been tied to several high profile boxing champs in recent months, and some people even believe he could be on his way to facing one of them in another crossover boxing. battle.
Mayweather, Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya are the biggest potential fights for McGregor inside a boxing ring. The retired UFC “champ champ” has been linked to all three in various ways over the past year though nothing has yet to materialize.
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