While Conor McGregor was bragging of a nine-figure payday against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Gonzaga is unlikely to make enough to pay his medical bills
McGregor’s first foray into boxing was the most watched pay-per-view of all time. Gonzaga’s will not carry anywhere near as much interest or glamor.
The former UFC heavyweight title contender will test his mettle against Alando Pugh in a four-round bout at New England’s Future 4 event in Worcester, Mass., on Oct. 28. Gonzaga maintains that it is the love of competition and not money which led to him trying his hand at the sport of boxing (MMA Fighting):
“My boxing coach always wanted me to fight something, and I’m doing it for the challenge,” Gonzaga said. “Financially, it’s pretty much zero. It doesn’t even pay the medical costs, but I’m doing it because I want to. Unlike Conor McGregor, who said it was for the challenge, but lost and made 100 million dollars, I wanted to fight something, just like I do when I compete in jiu-jitsu and fought MMA.”
“Boxing is a high-level sport, and I’m fighting someone at my level,” he said. “I’ve never boxed in my life. I’ve trained with coach ‘Cebola’ when I lived in Sao Paulo, and now I’m training for a new challenge. I’m training with the same team, but with some boxing sparring. It’s complete different from MMA, and I wanted to do something different.”
“My obligation to win is the same that McGregor had: none,” he continued, mentioning McGregor’s recent bout with Floyd Mayweather. “It’s my first time in the sport, but the difference is that I’m going against someone at my level instead of fighting the best in the world — or I wouldn’t last one round because it’s at heavyweight. I have a good level of boxing, but not to challenge a boxing champion.”
