Bob Arum says discussions for Conor McGregor-Terence Crawford two-fight series have happened

During the lead-up to his bout at this past weekend's UFC 246, Conor McGregor discussed the possibility of stepping back into the boxing ring for a rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in 2020. After wiping out Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds on Saturday, talks ramped up as Mayweather put up a mock poster for a possible rematch on Instagram. 

But could there be another boxer who could potentially welcome Conor McGregor to a boxing ring while also making the trek into the Octagon?

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum brought up an idea of a two-fight series with McGregor involving one of his prized pugilists and arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The first fight would see WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford take on Conor McGregor in an MMA bout with the second bout taking place under boxing rules. 

Arum has stated that preliminary discussions have occurred about a potential McGregor-Crawford crossover series.

"You've got an elite boxer in Terence Crawford fighting an elite MMA guy in Conor McGregor under MMA rules," 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."

"Whenever they are ready, we are ready," Arum continued. "We'd do the MMA fight first if that's what they want."

When hearing the talk from the Hall of Fame promoter, Crawford took to social media to let UFC President Dana White he was ready and able to go.

Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) last fought in December, beating Egidijus "Mean Machine" Kavaliauskas by ninth-round TKO. While he's in perhaps the glamour division of boxing, he's been unable to get fellow 147-pound champions Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr., or former titleholders Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter, to face him due to their residence under the Premier Boxing Champions promotional banner. 

Venturing to MMA wouldn't be too much of stretch for Crawford since he used to be a wrestler in his younger days. As long as he can get the proper time to train, battling McGregor could be the big fight(s) he's long been desiring to have.

"I'm a fighter first," Crawford told ESPN. "As a fighter, I would entertain it. 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," Crawford continued. "I'm with it all."

In McGregor's (22-4 MMA) only professional boxing match, he lost by 10th-round TKO to Mayweather - which ended up generating the second biggest buyrate in combat sports history with over 4.3 million pay-per-view buys.