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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Boxing devider Former champ George Foreman: McGregor can beat Pacquiao in boxing match

Former champ George Foreman: McGregor can beat Pacquiao in boxing match

Published Feb 27, 2021 02:01 pm
Photos from Top Rank, Conor McGregor and George Foreman's Twitter accounts

Former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman is rooting for UFC star Conor McGregor over Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao.

Foreman said McGregor, the former two-division UFC champion, would be a better fit in the boxing ring right now instead of the Octagon and has chances of defeating the only eight-division world boxing champion.

“I think if he has a fight with Pacquiao he can actually beat him – good rules, over 10 rounds, McGregor can beat him," Foreman, an Olympic gold medalist, recently told Daily Star.

"He’s already adjusted to boxing, he’s not going to do good in MMA (mixed martial arts) anymore. Pacquiao is very good as a matter of fact but McGregor can beat him in a boxing match.”

McGregor holds a professional MMA record of 22-5 on top of 19 knockouts. In his controversial run in the UFC alone, the 32-year-old Irish fighter has eight victories coming from KO/TKOs.

He only lost thrice in the biggest MMA promotion, namely against Nate Diaz (rear-naked choke), retired lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov (rear-naked choke) and recently Dustin Poirier (TKO).

The boxing ring proved to be an unfamiliar territory for the UFC knockout artist though, suffering a tenth-round TKO loss at the hands of five-division world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. last 2017 in the "The Money Fight."

But with his recent UFC loss, it looks like McGregor's projected fight with the 42-year-old Pacquiao won’t be happening anytime soon.

Read: Pacquiao-McGregor fight not on the radar, says Gibbons

In early February, McGregor reflected on his defeat against Poirier and admitted that he was preoccupied with the potential boxing match against the Filipino boxer-turned-senator.

Though graceful in defeat, McGregor has vowed to come back stronger in the Octagon and set sights on a possible trilogy against the former interim UFC lightweight champion.

Pacquiao, who holds a 62-7-2 (39 KOs) record, has not fought since scoring a split decision win over Keith Thurman in July 2019.

Related Tags

Conor McGregor george foreman Manny Pacquiao
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