MANILA, Philippines – If Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star Conor McGregor ends up being involved in another lucrative showdown with retired Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather Jr., Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao would have to wait for a fight against either of the two if ever he decides to come out from retirement.
Many boxing fans are hoping to see a dream matchup between Pacquiao and the Irish McGregor turn to reality. But they will have to keep waiting for now because of the pending lawsuit of Paradigm Sports Management (PSM) against Pacquiao.
PSM sued Pacquiao at the Superior Court of California for alleged breach of contract last year, seeking to recover a $3.3 million advance when Pacquiao signed with the agency run by chief executive officer Audie Attar.
Now that negotiations are reportedly underway between McGregor and Mayweather for a rematch — the two first fought in 2017 — Pacquiao may find himself searching for another dance partner for a lucrative fight if he decides to return to the ring this year.
Fighthype.com first reported the negotiation between the 33-year-old McGregor and Mayweather Jr. for a rematch, a fight reportedly worth a $1 billion. McGregor, who is managed by Attar, recently announced on Instagram that he has accepted the fight.
However, there is no formal announcement yet for Mayweather-McGregor 2.
McGregor lost to Mayweather via 10th round technical knockout win. Despite the defeat, McGregor was reportedly guaranteed with $30 million paycheck while Mayweather took home $100 million.
Their fight generated $43 million in pay-per-view buys in the United States.
A former Pacquiao associate lamented the fact that the boxer will face a roadblock if he decides to fight one more time in the US.
“We’re very sad of what happened to Manny Pacquiao’s last fight. It should be him sitting on the negotiation table right now — and not Mayweather. But he didn’t honor the lucrative contract he signed with Paradigm last year,” Jayke Joson said.
“And now, we do not know what the future holds if he decides to fight again one more time,” he added.
After McGregor lost to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC via knockout last January 2021, PSM offered Pacquiao to fight Mikey Garcia instead in Dubai first while waiting for McGregor’s recovery.
Despite signing an agreement though to fight Garcia, Pacquiao reportedly surprisingly signed on to face another fighter — unbeaten WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. — on August 21 at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas without PSM’s consent.
But Spence was replaced by Yordenis Ugas due to a left eye injury a week before the fight night.
Pacquiao ended up losing to Ugas via unanimous decision — not a fitting farewell to his illustrious 26-year boxing career.
Pacquiao, however, is still mum about a possible ring comeback after a failed presidential bid last May.