Carl Frampton was not only happy to see Conor McGregor awarded his boxing licence by the California State Athletic Commission but ‘The Jackal’ revealed that he would also be open to training with his fellow countryman.
On Thursday, it emerged that the reigning UFC lightweight champion had been granted a licence to box by the CSAC and fight fans were divided into two camps on the news.
Some felt that it would open the door to the much publicised cross-sport super-fight with Floyd Mayweather while others simply felt that it was a way for McGregor to somewhat threaten the UFC, who recently stripped him of his featherweight title and removed him from the 145lbs rankings, by showing an intent to swap the Octagon for the ring.
It would appear that Carl Frampton falls into the latter category as he reacted to the news by saying “I just thought he’s almost sticking his fingers up to the UFC and saying ‘I can do what I want!’
“I like him. Fair play to him.”
Belfast’s Frampton finds himself in the pound-for-pound top 10 boxers in the world after successfully moving up to featherweight and claiming the WBA belt with his July victory over Leo Santa Cruz, who he will rematch next January.
Frampton was asked how he rated McGregor’s boxing skills and insisted that he would be open to working with him to improve on any holes he may have in his striking game.
“We don’t know yet because we haven’t seen it but give him a year or so and who knows?” he said to TMZ Sports.
“He comes from a boxing background so why not? I think he can box. You can see in the UFC, how he fights. He punches a lot and he can obviously punch pretty hard.
“I would love to (train with him) and help him out if I could. He’s someone I admire a lot.”
Michael Lundy joins Wooly for a wide-ranging discussion that starts with a chat about Ger Loughnane, dodgy transfers and Davy Fitzgerald’s training methods. Subscribe here on iTunes.
