Freddie Roach tells Conor Mcgregor, Pacquiao beats you easier than Hatton

By Boxing News - 09/26/2020 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Trainer Freddie Roach isn’t sure if Manny Pacquiao will face Conor McGregor next but believes it’ll be an easier fight for him than his 2009 slaughter of Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao could be facing McGregor in December or January in the Middle East.

McGregor, 32, posted on Twitter on Friday, letting his millions of followers know that he’ll be fighting Pacquiao next in the Middle East.

Conor’s post ties in with what UFC president Dana White said earlier this week about him having a big announcement for a boxing match that he was going to reveal, and now it makes sense. McGregor vs. Pacquiao is likely the fight that Dana was hinting at.

For the fight to take place in the Middle East, it suggests one of those countries is willing to put up a lot of money to host the Pacquiao-McGregor contest. If that fight took place in the U.S, it would have to be without fans, and that would be a massive loss in revenue.

Pacquiao knocked out the British superstar Hatton in two rounds in Las Vegas 11 years ago and ended his career. Following that humiliating defeat, Pacquiao fought only one more time before retiring from boxing.

Image: Freddie Roach tells Conor Mcgregor, Pacquiao beats you easier than Hatton

Can McGregor give Pacquiao a fight?

The 60-year-old Roach has been training Pacquiao for many years, and he knows hat he’s capable of doing to McGregor, whose only experience in boxing came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2017.

McGregor was stopped in the 10th round in a fight that pulled in a massive amount of pay-per-view buys. Mayweather looked like he intentionally fought at a slow pace to extend the fight with Conor so that the fans ould be angry.

McGregor has the size, power, and athleticism to give Pacquiao many problems, but it won’t be easy for him. The stamina issues that McGregor showed against Mayweather will be even more of a liability against an active fighter like Pacquiao.

Can McGregor deal with being pressured nonstop for three minutes of every round without fading? That’s the big question. Mayweather was fighting in almost slow motion, and yet he had McGregor completely exhausted after three rounds. The fight stopped being interesting after the third round, considering that it became apparent that Mayweather was intentionally slowing his game down to carry Mcgregor.

It’s doubtful that McGregor will pay much attention to the warning from Roach, as he’s likely focused on the huge payday that he’ll get from fighting the Filipino star. McGregor made over $100 million for his fight against Mayweather in 2017, and he’s fought once since then.

The money that the Irish fighter made took away his need to continue his career in the UFC, where he was the biggest star.

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Fans will suspect a set-up if it’s competitive

If Pacquiao doesn’t destroy McGregor long before the 12th round, many boxing fans will see the fight as staged. Conor has no actual talent for boxing, and he hasn’t done much in the combat sports since his loss to Mayweather in 2017.

Since that defeat, McGregor has fought just once in beating Donald Cerrone by a 1st round knockout at UFC 246 on January 18th. The fight was over with so quickly that it hardly counts as a competition. Last June, McGregor retired from fighting in the MMA.

Pacquiao has the type of whirlwind fighting style that would be a total nightmare for McGregor, and he’ll have a difficult time lasting more than a couple of rounds. Manny is so much more dangerous than Mayweather, and Mcgregor doesn’t have the skills or the cardio to withstand that type of a fighter.

We still haven’t heard anything from Pacquiao about whether he will take the fight with McGregor or not, but the signs are there that these will be fighting within three to four months from now.

Image: Freddie Roach tells Conor Mcgregor, Pacquiao beats you easier than Hatton

Pacquiao might not even have to train for this fight because he can win just by showing up and turning on his offense for a minute or two. It’s doubtful that Pacquiao would want to smash McGregor to bits right away,  as that would spoil it for the fans.