Will Conor McGregor box again?

In just a matter of days, Conor McGregor will make his professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in what most view as a lucrative mismatch. Although he’s expected to lose, will this be McGregor’s only foray into boxing?

What Conor McGregor is attempting to do on Aug. 26 in taking on Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes 1956 Olympic gold medalist Pete Rademacher’s challenge of heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in his pro debut almost logical. Rademacher had at least reached the pinnacle of amateur boxing, and Patterson, while a great champion, was susceptible to being floored. True to form, he was dropped in Round 2 before rallying to stretch the plucky challenger after scoring six knockdowns of his own.

Rademacher went on to have a serviceable, albeit brief, professional career that saw him take on quality opponents, a couple of whom he defeated — namely, George Chuvalo and a faded Bobo Olson. The point, though, is that Rademacher saw fit to continue fighting even though he began his career with what is typically a pinnacle opportunity for true contenders.

The circumstances of Conor McGregor and Rademacher’s boxing debuts couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. The “grab” for Patterson-Rademacher was a gold medalist but novice pro trying to win the heavyweight title — the most celebrated achievement in sports — having never punched for pay. McGregor, on the other hand, isn’t fighting to make that kind of history; in fact, if Mayweather-McGregor is to be remembered for anything, it’ll be how well it performs at the box office.

Given that, how could Conor McGregor conceivably box again post-Mayweather — assuming he loses as practically all pundits expect — when every payday and promotion will pale in comparison to this one?

The thought of McGregor, who is already a star and multi-weight champion in the UFC, doggedly going from 0-1 as a boxer to something like 20-1 over the span of a few years, while certainly possible if he’s matched properly, to secure official standing with boxing’s various sanctioning bodies to then fight for a world title seems like an arduous and needless exercise. By simply securing the Mayweather fight, McGregor has already robbed boxing blind, enhanced his celebrity and surely created new avenues for selling/marketing himself that are less strenuous than the grind of being a professional prizefighter.

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Of course, this theory is based on the premise that Mayweather will either stop or outclass McGregor in the type of mismatch that exposes this mutation of an event as a competitive farce. But even if McGregor performs better than expected in defeat, he’ll still find himself facing a post-Mayweather crash with only supremely difficult, and far less lucrative, challenges awaiting him.

A return to MMA and the UFC is far more logical, where McGregor can seamlessly slide back into being one of his sport’s standard-bearers, his hiatus having only bloated his bank account and increased the demand to see him defend his titles or contest a super fight in his actual domain.

Recently, Paulie Malignaggi — a two-weight boxing champion and excellent analyst whose sparring-gate incident with Conor McGregor created a social media firestorm — told CBS Sports’ Brian Campbell that he would be a logical next opponent for McGregor given their public feud and the money to be made compared to tougher tests in the UFC. While this makes a modicum of sense from a novelty/celebrity standpoint, McGregor-Malignaggi, given Paulie’s status as a faded, retired fighter, amounts to nothing more than a sideshow, small-time cash grab, a D-level match-up.

So where does this leave Conor McGregor? The truth is that he’ll make more money against Floyd Mayweather Jr. than the vast majority of fighters will in their entire careers; the harsh reality, however, is that the expected result — McGregor getting humiliated for up to 12 rounds — negates the possibility of him being a viable draw as a prizefighter. Fans will tolerate style over substance only to a certain extent, and Mayweather-McGregor has pushed that “extent” to previously unexplored realms.

But what if McGregor somehow wins? To write that, let alone think it privately, feels like an insult to critical thinking, but then again, it’s technically possible. Nevertheless, let’s entertain the thought for a moment. Should McGregor land a home run punch for the ages, or should Mayweather suffer a freak injury mid-fight, what could be more “McGregor” than handing the fighter who has suffocated boxing through his obsession with curated perfection his first loss — and then casually raising his middle fingers and walking away.

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Should that occur, and even if it doesn’t, the WWE will come calling and a new round of endorsements will likely present themselves, not to mention a foray into film. All-time great Marvin Hagler once said, “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 a.m. when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.” Win or lose, Conor McGregor will be sleeping in something even more luxurious than silk on Aug. 27 with a clear understanding that he doesn’t need boxing anymore.

Everything you need to know about how to live stream the boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor can be found right here.