White Wants McGregor To Forget About Boxing In 2021

Conor McGregor has teased a potential boxing match in 2021, possibly against Manny Pacquiao, who is now managed by Paradigm Sports Management, McGregor’s longtime representatives.

And while Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White did give “Notorious” the green light to take part in a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather a few years ago, he might not be so quick to do it again … at least not in 2021.

That’s because the brash head honcho wants his former “champ-champ” to focus solely on mixed martial arts (MMA) this year and perhaps take another stab at boxing sometime in 2022.

“The way that this kid is right now mentally, physically, emotionally, I mean this kid is on and ready to fight,” White told ESPN (via MMA Fighting). “I would love to see him focused on what he can do here at the UFC. Whether it’s take another shot at that title against Khabib [Nurmagomedov] or fight for the title against somebody else if Khabib retires and defend that title,” he said.

McGregor went on to lose to Mayweather via tenth round technical knockout (TKO), though “Notorious” has been pining for a rematch because he was “whooping” the pound-for-pound great in the early rounds.

Still, if McGregor wants to face Mayweather or anyone else inside the boxing ring, it will have to wait a while if White has a say in the matter.

“A boxing match with any of these guys, that stuff’s always going to be there. You are the absolute best in the world right now in MMA and the timing is right now. Not getting any younger. I’d love to see him go for it here over the next year. If he wants to fight one of these boxing guys, do that next year. That fight’s always going to be there.”

So much for that title fight.

If a boxing match against Pacquiao doesn’t come to pass, there are other pro boxers who are eager to put their boxing skills up against McGregor’s including this champion. For now, McGregor’s focus is on Dustin Poirier, as the two will headline UFC 257 on Jan. 23, 2021 on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.