Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao vs. Conor Anthony McGregor

Apparently the stars are beginning to align for this one to go down in early 2021 as somewhat of an hors d'œuvre for the winner to rematch Floyd Mayweather Jr. later in the year. Nothing official yet, nor even close to it - and in the meantime Pacquiao will need to get by a 2020 opponent (likely the longtime front-running candidate, Daniel Óscar García) while McGregor either may or may not appear in the Octagon again in the next year - but industry folk are buzzing over Pacquiao signing with Paradigm Sports Management (the same firm that advises the Irishman) and drawing inferences like a gaggle of toddlers set loose with sidewalk chalk.

A venue suggested as likely is the brand-new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (set to be the home turf of the relocated former Oakland Raiders in the NFL). This would make for the Filipino legend's 22nd appearance in Vegas (the first being his victory over Lehlohonolo Benedict Ledwaba two decades earlier), and for McGregor it would be his ninth spanning both combat sports (with seven appearances in the UFC as well as the Mayweather loss in his professional boxing debut).

Dave Moretti gave McGregor three rounds and Pacquiao two against Mayweather. Burt Clements - also served as official judge on both nights - gave McGregor one and Pacquiao four. They both ultimately lost to Mayweather; Pacquiao via UD in 2015 and McGregor via TKO10 in 2017.

McGregor, a 2-division champion in MMA, has a 3½ height and 7" reach advantage over Pacquiao, a 6-division champion in boxing. Pacquiao has a dozen more knockouts alone than McGregor has combined pro bouts.

For the sake of argument, despite no date having been mentioned by either party, let's assume that "early 2021" ends up translating into St. Patrick's Day weekend. It would make dollars and sense.

 

I would assume 154lb at most. This is a year off; besides, Conor had also fought up at the MMA version of welterweight (so, 170lbs) a year before he fought Mayweather at boxing's light middle. And he wasn't drained; let's have nobody contrive such a narrative three years on now...

 

You've compromised the integrity of my poll!!!