A fight against Conor McGregor could generate $250 million and be Manny Pacquiao's retirement party, according to an expert
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LAS VEGAS - A fight against Conor McGregor could generate $250 million and be Manny Pacquiao's retirement party, a boxing expert told Business Insider.
The world's combat sports media gathered on Thursday at UFC Apex, a 13,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production center in the Enterprise district of Las Vegas, for a media day ahead of UFC 246 - a bout which sees McGregor return to competition against Donald Cerrone after a 15-month absence.The Irishman himself said he's been in talks to fight the former eight-weight world boxing champion Pacquiao, and Gareth A. Davies, a boxing columnist for The Telegraph and presenter for talkSPORT and BT Sport, believes the bout is "viable" for 2020.
"Pacquiao makes sense, absolutely," Davies told us. "It's enormous."The British boxing reporter said he had covered the crescendo of Mayweather and Pacquiao's careers, as well as their bout in 2015. He foresees an event potentially as large as that should the boxing veteran strike a deal with McGregor and the UFC.
Davies envisages an even worse defeat should he fight Pacquiao, as he believes the Filipino fighter will not just knock McGregor down, but out for good.
"It's a dangerous fight … Pacquiao knocks him out. And I mean knocks him out. It's a very dangerous fight for McGregor," he said.
Davies then said it's a bout which would gross between $200 million or $250 million, and would serve as a retirement party for Pacquiao, who, at 41 years old and with world championship belts from flyweight to super welterweight, has a secured legacy. Fighting McGregor would financially secure Pacquiao and his family even further."It's a fight that can be made," Davies said. "I think we'll see that fight. Pacquiao is at the end [of his career], and a bout with McGregor is viable this year."
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