Conor McGregor is determined to return to the boxing ring and compete for honours - according to his manager.
The Dubliner famously fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017 and fell to a TKO 10th-round defeat.
Jorge Masvidal is the bookmakers' favourite to be McGregor's next opponent in the octagon, while a Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch and a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz are other potential scraps this year.
MMA appears to be the immediate focus, but prior to his demolition of Donald Cerrone inside 40 seconds at UFC 246, McGregor revealed he still has unfinished business in boxing.
Speaking to ESPN, 'The Notorious' ambitiously claimed a boxing world title is on his agenda, saying: “I would be open to other boxing bouts. You know, Manny. We’re actually close to signing Manny.
“There’s been talks about the Manny fight as well.”
Paulie Malignaggi - whose feud with McGregor goes back to 2017 and sparring ahead of the Mayweather fight - has been mentioned as another possible opponent.
McGregor added: "And then the Paulie [Malignaggi] fight. I’d like to box Paulie.
"I want to box again. I will box again, I will get a boxing world title.”
While talk of a world title shot seems more hopeful than realistic, McGregor's manager Audie Attar insists it is a serious ambition.
“He’s serious about boxing,” McGregor’s longtime manager told MMA Fighting.
“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.”
Attar added: “We definitely monitor everything. 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.”
