Philippine boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has formally admitted that talks have taken place between his management and that of the Irish UFC star Conor McGregor for a possible boxing match to be held in April 2018.
However, UFC President Mr Dana White, speaking to reporters after the UFC Fresno event over the weekend, reacted unhappy to the news: "That would be weird because he’s under contract with us. If that’s true, I will be suing Manny Pacquiao and whoever’s representing him, so I’m assuming that’s not true."
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Of course, the world would have their attention should Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor indeed come to an agreement over a fight, as the attendance numbers over the super-fight switch last summer with Floyd Mayweather were astonishing already.
During that fight, McGregor was stopped in the 10th round by the pound-for-pound king, reportedly earning over $100 million.
Meanwhile Mayweather is estimated to have earned close to $250 million for that contest.
Seeing those sums, several other boxers, including Oscar de la Hoya and Paulie Malignaggi have also confirmed that they would be willing to come out of retirement to fight the Irishman.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UFC Threatens to Sue Manny Pacquiao Over Proposed Conor McGregor Fight… <a href="https://t.co/ldtYSZgfO9">https://t.co/ldtYSZgfO9</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pacman?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pacman</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pacquiao?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pacquiao</a></p>— Manny Pacquiao (@PacquiaoTweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/PacquiaoTweets/status/940322604048580608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Just last month, Pacquiao, closing in on the end of his career after winning world titles across all eight weight divisions and holding down a place in The Philippines as a senator, dropped a serious hint at a potential McGregor fight, when he sent round a tweet featuring a picture of the Irishman with the words: "Happy Thanksgiving @TheNotoriousMMA Stay fit my friend. #realboxingmatch #2018."
When asked whether any progress in fight talks had been made, Pacquiao stated "Initially, but we have not yet had any follow-up conversations," he said. "If we can negotiate it, I have no problem. It is okay with both of us."
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OMG, where can I buy tickets?