Roach says he was asked to train Conor McGregor for boxing

By Boxing News - 05/17/2016 - Comments

roach55By Jeff Aranow: Trainer Freddie Roach said he was contacted by some to train MMA fighter Conor McGregor in boxing. Roach isn’t sure whether they want him to help trainer the 27-year-old McGregor (19-3) to get ready for a fight against superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. or what.

Roach says if they want him to train McGregor, he’ll do it if he comes to his gym. With that said, Roach doesn’t think it’s possible for him to train McGregor to beat Mayweather in one training camp. Roach says McGregor would need to be trained by him for three years to have a chance against Mayweather.

Mayweather is talking about wanting to come out of retirement to face McGregor under boxing rules in a fight. Mayweather believes he’ll get a nine-figure payday for fighting McGregor. Mayweather likely believes a fight against McGregor will do well because McGregor’s last fight in UFC against Nate Diaz brought in 1.5 million PPV buys. That’s a lot of buys for an MMA event.

There currently isn’t anyone in the sport of boxing that is capable of bringing 1.5 million PPV buys at this time. The most popular fighter in boxing right now is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and he just brought in 450,000 PPV buys for his fight against Amir Khan this month. Before that, Canelo brought in 900,000 buys for his fight against Miguel Cotto in 2015.

“They asked me to train McGregor,” said Roach to fighthub. “I don’t know. They said, ‘will you train him,’ and I said, ‘tell him to show up.’ If he comes he comes. I’ll help him. I like helping people, but I’m not going to train him to beat Mayweather. There’s no way. I’d have to train him for at least three years to get him ready for Mayweather. He’s a little green, come on. He’s good at MMA, but boxing? No, I don’t know. Let’s face it; if you fight with boxing rules, the boxer will win. If you fight under MMA rules, the MMA fighter will win. It’s totally different sports. If an MMA fighter puts me on the ground, I don’t know who to get out of it. I wouldn’t quit. He’ll have to break my arm before I tap out. In boxing, you’re not allowed to quit. In boxing, you’re not allowed to surrender. I don’t like the ground game much. I like the sand up game better. The most exciting [art of MMA and UFC is the stand up. It’s just the way it is. If he comes, I will train him for sure. If he needs help in boxing, then that’s all I can help him,” said Roach.

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Roach is correct about him not being able to train McGregor to beat Mayweather. Normal boxers that have been boxing their entire lives can’t beat Mayweather, so how can an MMA fighter with a wrestling background have any hopes of beating him? It’s not possible.

The Mayweather vs. McGregor fight is a farce, and it’s one of those fights that will almost guarantee to leave fans angry and upset about having wasted their money thinking the fight would be competitive. McGregor is a limited fighter who doesn’t look good even in his MMA fights when he’s in the standup position. It’s real primitive stuff when McGregor stands up to fight rather than has his opponent on the mat for the wrestling stuff.

McGregor can get the best trainer in the sport of boxing but he’s not going to be able to beat Mayweather or even make it competitive unless Mayweather carries him, which I have a feeling he will. The fight will likely be such a mismatch that Mayweather will toy with McGregor like he did his last overmatched opponent Andre Berto in their fight last September.

That fight looked more like an exhibition match than an actual fight due to how much better Mayweather was compared to Berto. But it’ll be far worse in a fight between Mayweather and the untrained McGregor. It’ll be like a comedy match, and unfortunately it might end up angering boxing fans and causing them to shy away from paying to see PPV fights in the future. However, a fight between Mayweather and McGregor might not do well because of the many fans that are still upset with how bad Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao was in May 2015. That was an overpriced fight that failed to deliver on the promise of nonstop action. Mayweather fought in a safety first manner for 12 rounds, and Pacquiao fought with an injured right shoulder that limited what he could do in the ring.