So a couple of days after the UFC controversially stripped its lightweight champion of his featherweight strap, Conor McGregor has received a boxing licence from the state of California. Cue a biblical flood of opprobrium from the boxing world.

When it comes to blurring the lines between MMA and the sweet science, the boxing fraternity can be a particularly precious bunch. It sometimes feels as if we represent the fighting equivalent of late-1980s Liverpool, aghast at Dana White’s UFC coming hard up the track, intent on knocking us right off our effing perch. There is an inherent fear that MMA’s every gain is at boxing’s fatal expense, that this town ain’t big enough for the both of us.

The news broke earlier this morning and the scorn followed soon after. “A 60-year-old Sugar Ray Leonard would batter him in the boxing ring,” was one reaction. “He couldn’t win an Irish title,” added the respected Irish boxing site LoveIrishBoxing. The hashtag #FightersThatCanBeatMcGregor then appeared and the thread was peppered with an array of comically sarcastic suggestions, some in better taste than others.

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It has been suggested that McGregor could face the undefeated, and retired, Floyd Mayweather. “Congratulations to him,” offered Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, who pointed out that McGregor’s contract with the UFC precludes a fight with Mayweather, before adding that the Irishman “would get his ass beat from pillar to post” if they did meet in the ring.

Of course he would. McGregor wouldn’t lay a glove on Floyd’s pretty face. Mayweather is a one-in-a-generation boxer, a defensive genius in the ring. Look down the list of future hall-of-famers on his résumé and consider the calibre he has handled with ease. Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Álvarez, Diego Corrales, Genaro Hernández and none of them troubled him in the slightest.

Arguments can be made that Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto were competitive, that Zab Judah’s hand speed kept it interesting for a few rounds, that Marcos Maidana’s roughhouse tactics unsettled him, and some even swear that José Luis Castillo deserved the decision first time around. But these are relatively minor points when considered in the overall context of a flawless 49-fight, 19-year, five-division, multi-title winning career.

Mayweather has been largely untouchable against the best the sport of boxing has produced in the last two decades. So, unless he has aged dramatically in the 14 months since he last fought, suggesting that an athlete from a different sport could challenge him is illogical at best. Perhaps the only thing more ludicrous is thinking Mayweather would survive past 30 seconds under MMA rules with McGregor. I’m sure they would put on a hell of a show if it ever happened, but from the point of view of a competitive sporting contest it would be a non-event.

But, if we move past Mayweather and the current elite around 147-154 pounds, a sensible if totally hypothetical conversation can be had on the subject of McGregor lacing up boxing gloves. McGregor is an incredibly gifted athlete operating in a sport that will have given him transferable skills.

When I first watched MMA a decade ago I was like the other boxing fundamentalists who only see exposed chins and ineffective striking, but the entire sport has evolved since then. Back then fighters with a wrestling background were still in charge as the sprawl-and-brawlers arrived to counter the once-dominant ground-and-pounders. Today, however, the UFC is basking in an age of effective striking and McGregor is one of those leading the way.

The Irishman is a mixed martial artist in the truest sense of the word, but while most MMA fighters have developed from a Brazilian jiu-jitsu, or wrestling, or taekwondo, or Muay Thai background, McGregor grew up boxing. The art was first hardwired into his fighting brain when he walked into Crumlin Amateur Boxing Club as a 12-year old scrapper. He learned how to throw every punch, how to cover up, how to control the distance, how to switch his stance, and everything else required to win a few novice titles. He was known as an elusive target in the ring and an intelligent fighter who was adept at figuring out opponents. By the age of 16 he was lost to the world of kicking and grappling in a cage, but he has never forgotten what coach Phil Sutcliffe taught him in the Dublin gym.

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Boxing fans scoff at that suggestion and pick holes in his style and technique every time he performs in the Octagon, but viewing an MMA fight through a boxing lens is a totally pointless exercise. I have spent the last four months ghostwriting Dan Hardy’s book and it took about 30 seconds for the UFC fighter and analyst to put me straight on that account by stating the blindingly obvious. Watching guys spar in the gym and then taking in my first MMA fights from cage-side only educated me further.

The distinct demands of MMA make comparisons with boxing as sensible as contrasting rugby and the NFL, but a couple of quick and pertinent points can be made. The crux of the matter is that, quite simply, there are so many more ways to get hurt and lose in an MMA bout. There are so many more forms of attack and defence to be aware of. A standard, side-on boxing stance is rarely advisable inside the Octagon because the front leg is too exposed to kicks and the shape of the body makes it more difficult to defend takedown attempts.

Neither can an MMA fighter normally commit to throwing a perfect boxing punch, starting at the feet with all the rotation and turning of the shoulders that such a blow entails, for fear of leaving themselves vulnerable to all sorts of counters, with fist and knee and foot and elbow, or takedowns if it doesn’t land clean. Finally, the possibility of covering up and letting eight-ounce gloves absorb blows, or even leaning back against the ropes to avoid an incoming punch, are two more ’luxuries’ denied inside the cage.

And yet, even allowing for the myriad risk involved in bringing boxing techniques into an MMA arena, watching McGregor fight it is clear that he does just that. Although it is an exaggerated long stance, he is generally happy to approach his opponents side on. In recent bouts his punches have been tighter, crisper, more efficient, and apparently still as hurtful as both Nate Diaz and Eddie Alvarez made repeated trips to the canvas when hit. McGregor is also, when he has manoeuvred his man far enough to his right and at an angle that greatly negates the danger of being countered, prepared to rotate his hips and put his full body weight behind left hands directed at his rival’s chin. Would he last long fighting this exact way in a boxing ring? Of course not. But the point is that he is a few steps closer to a prizefighter’s style than every elite MMA fighter before him.

A few steps closer, but still a million miles away? Perhaps, but one man who doesn’t think so is six-time All-Ireland champion Conor Wallace. The Newry-born Wallace was chosen to replicate Nate Diaz’s style in the build-up to that famous rematch and spent eight weeks in Vegas helping prepare McGregor for his sweet revenge.

“One thing that stood out from Conor,” Wallace told me today, “is that he is an incredibly fast learner. He is shown something and he picks it up immediately. I was only with him for a couple of months, but in that time I saw a massive improvement in his boxing. The other thing to bear in mind is that he has the one thing that is vitally important in professional boxing and that is a big punch. He has a lot of power in that left hand and opponents feel that when it lands. Given the chance to dedicate his time to boxing, rather than sharing it with Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling and Muay Thai and all the rest, I don’t see why Conor couldn’t be fighting for domestic titles at the very least.”

Plenty disagree, of course. One of the many boxers who has frequently rubbished McGregor’s chances in a ring is the ex-British super lightweight champion, Curtis Woodhouse. Woodhouse retired without successfully defending that belt and ended with a 22-7 record. Woodhouse, it should be noted, was also a top-level professional footballer with no experience of boxing until the age of 26. I have always had the utmost respect for Woodhouse’s achievements. It clearly takes a special athlete and a lot of hard work and dedication to compete at the highest level of football and boxing in the UK and he deserves all the plaudits he receives.

But, if Woodhouse transitioned to boxing, why couldn’t McGregor do likewise? When a teenage Woodhouse was kicking a ball, McGregor was in one of the top amateur boxing clubs in Dublin, learning that trade. At the stage of life when Woodhouse was playing in the Premier League with Birmingham City, McGregor was knocking out top MMA fighters such as José Aldo and Alvarez with his fists. The ex-footballer won his British title at the age of 33 in the 28th bout of an eight-year career. Is it so ridiculous to think that McGregor, now 28, could refocus on boxing and achieve something similar?

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My guess is we’ll probably never know. Ellerbe’s nonchalant reaction is probably one of the more rational we’ll see today. McGregor is known for a business acumen as sharp as his suits and an uncanny knack of guaranteeing himself a few column inches, regardless of whether the content is positive or negative. This could very well be nothing more than the shifting of a pawn in advance of future negotiations with his new UFC overlords. Or maybe it was just a cheap and cheerful way to cause a bit of a stir in social media in an otherwise slow day.

And even if his intentions to box are genuine, does he have the patience to start at a relatively low rung and work his way up as any boxing trainer with an ounce of sense will advise? And does he have the willpower to forsake the guaranteed millions on offer inside the Octagon in the next couple of years to take a huge risk in another sport?

It seems unlikely and, in that unfortunate light, the best chance of seeing McGregor in a boxing ring could well be the circus of a big payday against Mayweather after all.

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