Team Lakay head coach predicts knockout ending in Pacquiao vs. McGregor

Team Lakay’s head coach Mark Sangiao sees only one end should the prospective showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor come to fruition.

Sangiao, touted by many as one of the best MMA coaches in the world, believes that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight world champion may be biting more than he can chew by wanting to get inside the ring with the Filipino boxing icon.

“Boxing is Pacquiao's sport, of course, he is favored to win that fight. The only way Manny gets beat is by a lucky punch,” Sangiao told GMA News Online.

A pioneer of mixed martial arts in the Philippines and maker of champions, Sangiao acknowledged that McGregor is indeed a dangerous striker- but that is when he competes under MMA rules.

“I know this because I've trained different martial arts including taekwondo, judo, and boxing. If they fight in MMA, I can also say that Pacquiao can only win if he lands a lucky punch,” he said.

“Pacquiao knows the ins and outs of boxing. We all know that McGregor is a phenomenal striker, but that is when he is using 4-ounce MMA gloves.”

The 32-year-old McGregor only has one professional boxing match to his name and that is when he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in August 2017 where he lost by way of tenth-round technical knockout.

And if the Irish MMA superstar can get stopped by Mayweather, Sangiao can only imagine the kind of damage Pacquiao would pour should he meet McGregor in a boxing match.

“I think McGregor is going to get knocked out,” he predicted.

“He was stopped by a technical by Mayweather. What more against Pacquiao who is a known hard puncher? He will be all over the place if he gets his by a punch from Pacquiao.” — BM, GMA News