Conor McGregor given boxing licence to take step closer towards Floyd Mayweather 'superfight'

McGregor has spoken of his desire to fight unbeaten Mayweather

UFC Lightweight Champion and general all-round showboat Conor McGregor is Irish (Getty)

Conor McGregor is a step closer to a superfight with unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather after he successfully obtained a professional boxing licence in California.

McGregor’s agent, Audie Attar, told ESPN on Wednesday night that the Irish UFC superstar had been approved in his application for a professional boxing licence, with confirmation coming soon after from the California State Athletic Commission.

28-year-old McGregor became the UFC’s first simultaneous two-time champion after he beat Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 earlier this month to win the lightweight title. McGregor already held the featherweight belt after defeating Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 193 last December, but he was forced to relinquish that title this week after failing to defend it for the last 11 months.

Since defeating Alvarez with such a dominant performance, McGregor has admitted that he will take a break from the Octagon to pursue other interests, as well as prepare for the arrival of his first child along with partner Dee Devlin.

But the move to acquire a boxing licence means that McGregor could look to make his professional debut in the squared-circle in the coming months, and the CSAC’s executive director Andy Foster confirmed last night that McGregor is already looking for “appropriately matched-up opponents”.

Both McGregor and Mayweather have spoken in the past of their desire to fight each other, although the Irishman said, tongue in cheek, that he would demand $100m to face the American. However, Mayweather also reacted angrily to comparisons with McGregor following his UFC 205 victory, and labelled them as “total disrespect”.

Mayweather remains unbeaten with a 49-0 boxing record after retiring last year following his showdown with Manny Pacquiao, but ‘Money’ has been warned not to underestimate McGregor by UFC president Dana White because the ‘Notorious’ puts “people to sleep with his hands”, while Mayweather does with his “fighting style”.

“Conor McGregor, if he touches you, you go to sleep,” White said as quoted by Hypebeast.

"Floyd puts people to sleep too, with his fighting style, not with his hands.

"Floyd can say what he wants about Conor, but even other fighters have to respect him. He’s special.

"Floyd’s never even come close to doing to other fighters what Conor does.”

One problem for the fight though is that Mayweather, should he come out of retirement, would look to box only on the Mexican holidays of Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day in order to maximise the saleability of the bout, as he has done for a number of years. With McGregor and Devlin expecting their first child in May, and the Cinco de Mayo weekend falling on the 5-7 May next year, any fight between the two may have to wait until September.