Freddie Roach says Manny Pacquiao vs. Conor McGregor superfight would be ‘like ripping off the world’

The rumor mill spun its gears last week as boxing legend Manny Pacquiao made it known that he was in preliminary talks with UFC superstar Conor McGregor for a potential superfight in 2018.

While a bout between “Pac-Man” and “Notorious” would bring in a ton of money, it really isn’t the greatest idea at this point in time. McGregor was just flattened by Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in August and needs to defend his UFC lightweight title early next year to remain in control of the division.

On top of that, legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach believes that a matchup between Pacquiao and McGregor wouldn’t be competitive at all. Roach insists that the potential superfight would be strictly a cash grab and offer limited entertainment for fight fans.

“Well Manny always told me he doesn’t like that sport (MMA) because it’s more like a street fight,” Roach said in a recent interview with Fight Hub TV (shown above).

“But it’s a very winnable fight and there’s a lot of money in that fight, but it’s kind of like ripping off the world. It wouldn’t be a fair fight. Cause, unless Manny fought by their rules too, that would make it a fair fight. But if you’re going to do boxing rules, the boxer is going to win 99-and-a-half percent of the time and I don’t think it’s much of a fight. I’m not a big fan of his. He’s not that great a boxer in my mind and I think we all saw that.”

Fair or not, most fight fans, especially those hailing from the mixed martial arts (MMA) side, would love to see McGregor take a crack at an aging legend like Pacquiao. While the bout probably wouldn’t offer tit-for-tat action, Pacquiao’s aggressive style could lead to more openings for “Notorious” than what the Irishman had against Mayweather earlier this year.

Regardless of the level of competition, McGregor is in a position to sell almost any fight he puts his name on. The UFC champion may have to capture victory inside of the Octagon before building up another boxing megafight so it’ll be interesting to see what “Notorious” does in 2018.