Manager says Conor McGregor is ‘serious’ about chasing boxing title

Conor McGregor recently returned to the UFC’s Octagon with a 40-second drubbing of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Ever since, the MMA community has been debating who he should fight next.

While all signs point to McGregor competing in another MMA bout soon, however, his manager Audie Attar recently divulged that the Irish star also has his sights set on a world title in boxing.

“He’s serious about boxing,” Attar told MMA Fighting of McGregor. “He said it. That’s something that I can tell you, if he says something he has interest in, it’s likely going to happen.”

When we talk about McGregor in the boxing ring, the potential opponents that are mentioned most often are Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Paulie Malignaggi. Yet Top Rank promoter Bob Arum recently proposed a pair of fights between McGregor and Terrence Crawford: one in boxing, one in MMA.

Attar seems to believe any of those options are possible.

“We definitely monitor everything,” Attar said. “We monitor not only fan engagement and interest from the public, but then you look at who’s out there talking what. Because it could be where we have a few different options to weigh and decide on.

“At the end of the day, I saw Floyd, I saw Manny and now Bob Arum, who at one point said, ‘It’s not a smart idea to crossover.’ He’s a believer now as well.”

Competing in both MMA and boxing will undoubtedly keep McGregor busy, but Attar believes its doable.

“Yes it’s going to be busy, but we welcome that,” Attar said. “We’re super excited for it. I think we’re all on the same page when it comes to ambition and goals, and so that’s really fun to see when your entire team is in sync.

“I think we all welcome that type of work load. We don’t look at it as pressure. We look at it as opportunity.”

Are you interested in seeing Conor McGregor in the boxing ring again?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/28/2020.