Conor McGregor poked fun at Manny Pacquiao after he shockingly announced a rematch with Floyd Mayweather will take place in 2024.
The eight-weight boxing world champion made a special guest appearance during an MMA event at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on New Year’s Eve.
RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara, who put on the show, invited Pacquiao into the ring and together they revealed a fight with Mayweather was official.
Pacquiao began his speech by vaguely talking up a ‘big fight’ but hesitated to name his opponent until being prompted to do so by Sakakibara.
He said: “Next year, I hope to see you here in Japan with a big fight against… Floyd Mayweather.
“I thought you didn’t want me to say that. I’m excited for that.”
The major announcement didn’t get much of a reaction from those in the audience, and people watching at home were shocked to see such a big fight being revealed in that manner.
Mayweather hasn’t confirmed he is set to face the Filipino boxing legend again after outpointing him when they first met in the highest-grossing boxing fight of all time nine years ago.
McGregor couldn’t help but laugh at Pacquiao’s poor promotional skills.
‘Notorious’ shared a video of the announcement to his Instagram story and mocked Pacquiao with a snarky caption and crying laughing emoji.
“A lesson in how not to make an announcement,” McGregor wrote.
The former dual-weight UFC champion showed Pacquiao how it is done by sharing a video which showed him announcing the date and weight for his fight with Michael Chandler.
Both men confirmed alternative opponents just days after McGregor told talkSPORT that he was in talks to fight the boxing icon, whom he was supposed to face in 2021.
It appears until they finally clash, McGregor will continue building their beef by taking shots at Pacquiao on social media.
