Manny Pacquiao Confirms Conor McGregor Will Be Next, Criticizes Errol Spence

Manny Pacquiao only wants UFC star Conor McGregor to be his next opponent and doesn’t think Errol Spence Jr. is better than Keith Thurman.

Despite McGregor already booked for a rematch with Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, his name is still linked with reigning WBA welterweight champion Pacquiao.

Last year, a mega-fight between the pair progressed after both legendary fighters confirmed their interest to take on each other. Apparently, nothing has changed in Pacquiao’s stance on the matter and reassured everybody that all the boxers calling him out could have their time.

But when he finally steps inside the ring again this 2021, it will be against McGregor.

“They’re my options, but right now I want to experience fighting an MMA (mixed martial artist),” Pacquiao told Business Mirror, referring to McGregor. “I will also donate a big portion of my income to Filipino COVID-19 victims.”

As for Spence, the WBC and IBF welterweight champion who is also touted as his next foe, Pacquiao simply thinks the tragic accident had already taken its toll on the undefeated pugilist.

Pacquiao believes that it reflected during his 12-round fight against Danny Garcia last month.

“Spence is slower than [Keith] Thurman, but it’s going to be a good fight,” the 42-year-old said. “I think Spence lost a step from the accident.”

Despite the age difference, Pacquiao's camp remains confident boxing’s only eight-division titlist would still do easy work on all the current world champions in his weight class.

According to Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Justin Fortune, who has worked with “Pac-Man” since 2003, a fight against McGregor guarantees a huge paycheck.

However, the other thing that is “guaranteed” is that Pacquiao will knock the Irishman out in “two rounds.”

“I guarantee it,” Fortune told Philstar Global. “Manny knocks him out in two rounds, quick and easy. I think it’ll be a massive money fight. The world wants it. A lot of people don’t like McGregor and want to see him beaten up.”

With regards to Spence and Mikey Garcia, who has been calling out Pacquiao for quite some time now, Fortune boasted that both welterweights would only be a “tune-up” fight for the Filipino legend.

“Manny will knock Mikey [Garcia] out,” the coach predicted. “Mikey’s fast and strong. He’s not as big as Spence. But Manny’s a different animal. It’ll be a tune-up for Manny who hasn’t fought since beating [Keith] Thurman in 2019.”

“As for Spence, Manny beats him any day,” he continued. “Spence is slow. In his last fight, he was up against Danny (Garcia) who couldn’t pull the trigger but went 12 rounds. Danny ended up with a huge black eye, but if he’d fought Manny instead, he would’ve gotten badly beaten up. Manny’s a meat mincer.”