Manny Pacquiao has been backed to take on 'non boxer' Conor McGregor in a crossover fight before retiring from boxing.
The Filipino star lost comprehensively against late replacement Yordenis Ugas by unanimous decision in his comeback fight in Las Vegas, after two years out of the ring since his last bout against Keith Thurman.
And the legendary fighter has been linked with retiring from the sport, but has previously held talks with McGregor for a crossover fight before the coronavirus pandemic derailed negotiations after issues over a potential venue.
But analyst Max Kellerman has backed Pacquiao to continue fighting despite his recent defeat and has stated that he is unsure why Pacquiao's camp 'are against' a fight with Irish star McGregor in the boxing ring.
“Now, Manny was asked if this is his last fight, and he said, ‘I don’t know. I need time to relax and make a decision.’ I doubt this is Manny’s last fight," Kellerman told ESPN.
“He’s got too big a name, and he’s still effective and can still make too much money. I don’t know why his camp is against fighting Conor McGregor.
“If I was Manny and could pick up tens of millions of dollars fighting a guy that’s not really a boxer. He’s just a talented fighter who can also box way better than he aught in McGregor’s case. Why wouldn’t you want to do that?
“Do you want to get in with one of the welterweight killers for a fraction of the money? Alright, but Manny is a real fighter.
“Yeah, I doubt Pacquiao is done. He can still make too much money fighting, and I didn’t think it was so unpredictable that Ugas was going to beat him.
Pacquiao was uncertain of his potential retirement when reacting to his defeat to Ugas, labelling the chances as '60/40' despite losing out on his chance to reclaim the WBA world title.
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And Kellerman believes that Pacquiao was unfortunate to face the Cuban late-replacement with 'little preparation' after Errol Spence was forced to withdraw from the originally planned bout due to an eye injury.
“Oh, man, he got upset. No kidding, I thought this was a dangerous fight,” Kellerman continued.
“By the way, since he [Ugas] lost that split decision to Shawn Porter that he could have easily won, he hasn’t lost since then. Ugas has won four straight.
“Ugas was a decorated amateur at the elite amateur level, and if you notice in boxing, the pound-for-pound best usually dominate at the international level of amateur boxing.
“Pacquiao, by the way, was training for Errol Spence, a very different type of guy. He’s an aggressive southpaw and very different from Ugas."
The 42-year-old named a two-man shortlist before his fight with Ugas for a potential career-ending fight r evealing he would 'like to pursue' clashes with Terence Crawford and previous schedule opponent Spence.
Pacquiao has also named his terms for any trilogy clash with old rival Floyd Mayweather, relaying the fact he will only 'fight professionally' ruling out an exhibition between the pair.
