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Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame trainer of Manny Pacquiao, indicates that his fighter has no interest in having a boxing match against UFC superstar Conor McGregor or any non-boxer.
Last year, there was some discussion that a Pacquiao vs. McGregor boxing match would happen in the summer of 2021.
McGregor, earlier this year, was starting to sharpen up his boxing skills in the gym.
Those plans were quickly derailed in late January, when McGregor was knocked out in two rounds by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.
A trilogy fight was held last month at UFC 264, with McGregor suffering a first round stoppage loss due to injury.
McGregor has unfinished business with Poirier, but he’s still very much interested in eventually having a boxing match with Pacquiao.
The eight division champion is scheduled to return on August 21, when he challenges WBC, IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Should the 42-year-old Pacquiao win, he will not face a non-boxer. According to Roach, the Filipino superstar wants to fight the best opponents out there at 147.
“That sport [of MMA] 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,” Roach told The Sun.
“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.”