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UFC superstar Conor McGregor threatened Manny Pacquiao over the weekend about their planned boxing match in the Middle East. McGregor claimed he should have broken the rules during his 2015 boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and said he could see himself doing that against Pacquiao.
McGregor posted, “…I will see how the build-up goes and wait to hear what bitter old Freddie Roach has to say and then make a decision.”
Pacquiao has yet to respond to the threat, though he did post a picture indicating his training for the megafight boxing match might have begun.
Roach Is Pacquiao’s Longtime Trainer
Roach is the Hall of Fame boxing trainer who helped guide Pacquiao into becoming one of the most accomplished boxing champions in history. Pacquiao is the only fighter in boxing history to win at least one world championship in eight different weight classes.
But Roach drew McGregor’s ire because he recently claimed via Twitter that Pacquiao would defeat McGregor in a boxing match worse that Pacquiao beat former 140-pound champion Ricky Hatton in 2009.
Pacquiao annihilated Hatton in just two rounds. It was one of the most dominant performances and devastating knockouts in boxing history.
You can watch the full fight for free below courtesy of Top Rank Promotions.
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McGregor’s Strange Claim About Mayweather Fight
McGregor claimed he should have broken the rules against Mayweather in 2015.
Mayweather stopped McGregor in the 10th round of their crossover megafight.
While McGregor fared better than most pundits thought he would, Mayweather took over the fight after about the third round.
In his wild post on Instagram, McGregor said he should have thrown a “volley” or a “shoulder” at the boxing legend or broken the rules in some other way to foul him. The idea behind that, one can assume, is that McGregor feels like he’s limiting himself in a boxing match because he’s an MMA fighter.
One wonders how people who like to gouge eyes or bite ears would feel with UFC rules limiting them.
McGregor posted, “Really I should have just sat right thru that shot and took his head off and f*** the distance. If it didn’t work out just give him a good boot into the neck and get DQ’d and fined and who’d give a f***. I’m upset I fully followed the rules for that fight to be honest. Floyd deserved a volley at the least. A shoulder even, break the face.”
You can see McGregor’s entire post below.
McGregor Achieved Lofty Goal But Might Lose It
Interestingly enough, McGregor retweeted a fan account around the same time that had reposted a screenshot of McGregor telling a fan about his “biggest ambition” back in 2013.
Just two fights into his UFC career, McGregor revealed he wanted to “change the face of martial arts and combat sport” and to show the nation of Ireland that he could “conquer”.
You can see that post below.
2013 Conor McGregor talking about his biggest ambition… This aged well.
We need #AskNotorious back
By becoming the world’s biggest MMA star in history and sharing the ring with at least one of the greatest boxing champions ever while also planning another bout against another boxing star, McGregor has most assuredly already accomplished that lofty goal.
The only question now is whether McGregor will lose all that he has gained by virtue of his poor choices. It’s never an effective communication strategy to bring matters into the public sphere that could otherwise be solved in private.
So going back and forth with UFC president Dana White through the media doesn’t do anything positive for anyone.
Neither would be agreeing to a boxing rules fight against a beloved 41-year-old boxing star and Senator from the Philippines only to say you might want to illegally foul him during the fight instead.
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