According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, UFC star Conor McGregor and WBO Welterweight champion Terence Crawford could be in discussions for a possible two fight (MMA and Boxing) series.
“You’ve got an elite boxer in Terence Crawford fighting an elite MMA guy in Conor McGregor under MMA rules,” Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum told ESPN on Wednesday. “You don’t think that would be interesting and something the public would want to see? I think it’s very realistic.”
Arum said there have been some discussions between the sides but declined to specify which parties had talked.
“Whenever they are ready, we are ready,” Arum said. “We’d do the MMA fight first if that’s what they want.”
“I’m a fighter first. As a fighter, I would entertain it,” Crawford told ESPN. “I just have to have the proper time to prepare myself. It would be a little more than boxing training. I haven’t been in that [wrestling] environment in a long time, but most definitely I feel I can compete with anyone given the proper time to train on the MMA side, being that I have a wrestling background. McGregor would have to worry about my stand-up game as well. It would be interesting. He’s got good kicks and he’s strong. I’d have to prepare myself for those things, but I feel I would be all right.”
“I can’t get none of these top welterweights in the ring to fight me, so whatever is clever. I’m with it all,” Crawford said of a potential major fight in MMA.
“Fighting Crawford would be great for McGregor because he has no chance in a boxing match except to pick up a check,” Arum said. “In an MMA match, he would be the favorite, but Crawford would have a chance because he’s one tough dude and because he has a wrestling background. I think that Crawford is the one boxer that can compete with an elite MMA guy under MMA rules. We’d do two fights so we can level the playing field by fighting in both disciplines. Mayweather and Pacquiao would never fight under MMA rules. Crawford would.”
“I always had the talent for wrestling, but I liked to throw my hands. I liked punching people in the face more than hugging them,” Crawford said. “My dad was a wrestler, my uncle and my grandfather wrestled, and they were always teaching me the moves. I just liked boxing more.
“A lot of people may say if Terence goes into the Octagon he will get crushed, but they don’t know me.”
