Floyd Mayweather Asks Freddie Roach To Train Conor McGregor: The Notorious Struggles With Professional Boxers

Although many doubt the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight is happening, “Money” Mayweather is still selling the idea. Neither fighter has completely shut out the rumors of a super fight, and more details reveal how serious Floyd is about making it happen.

Last week, Freddie Roach, who trained Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao to fight Mayweather, told Inside MMA that Mayweather had tried to convince him to train McGregor for the rumored fight, according to MMA Fighting.

Freddie Roach makes it clear that Conor himself has not asked him to train:

“There are a lot of rumors out there that I’m getting calls from Conor, asking me to train him; they’re not true. He has not called me yet but Mayweather did come by my gym last week, and he asked me to take that job if it’s offered to me. He told me the fight is gonna happen and we’re gonna make a lot of money.”

As many commentators have stated, Roach goes on to talk about the huge advantage Mayweather would benefit from in a boxing match, and he states that it would take him at least “three years” to train Conor to fight Floyd.

“I don’t really think it’s possible for an MMA fighter to fight a boxer, and I don’t even really think it’s fair. Depends on what rules you fight under; one person has too big of an advantage. Mayweather would outbox him all day long.”

While Freddie acknowledges Conor is a tough fighter, he doesn’t think that will be enough to box with Mayweather, whom some regard as the greatest defensive boxer of all time.

“Mayweather is the best boxer in the world and I think he would absolutely not even lose a round against a guy with Conor’s experience. I mean, he looks like an okay boxer, he’s a very good MMA fighter, but the thing is this is boxing and he’s kind of a beginner at boxing.”

Furthermore, Roach comments on Conor’s performance when sparring with some of his professional fighters in one of his gyms.

“But I do know that he’s trained at Wild Card West, which is one of my gyms on the west side, and he’s sparring with a couple of my professional fighters over there, and I hear he’s not doing that well with my professionals.”

Chris van Heerden, a former IBO welterweight champion who sparred with McGregor, complimented his timing and counterpunching in an interview with FightHype. However, he doesn’t fancy Conor’s chances against the undefeated Mayweather. Heerden believes that the Featherweight Champion needs to work on his footwork when it comes to boxing.

Whether Mayweather wants to fight Conor or not, it is not up to him. McGregor is under contract with the UFC. Therefore, Floyd’s Mayweather Promotions will have to make some kind of deal with the UFC to make the fight happen.

Conor’s rematch with Nate Diaz may be more lucrative for the organization since they don’t share the PPV percentage with Mayweather promotions in that match-up.

As for now, a McGregor-Diaz fight is a more realistic showdown in the cards for the UFC. Nate Diaz has speculated that the Floyd fight is a publicity stunt while he negotiates new terms on his contract to fight McGregor in UFC 202. Floyd has made it clear that he is only looking for a big money fight. Other options may include a rematch with Pacquiao or an undefeated Danny Garcia.

Conor McGregor, who believes that hard work and not talent is responsible for his success, will be looking to spar with the best boxers in the world while he trains for Nate Diaz. If a Floyd Mayweather fight is happening, it doesn’t look realistic right now. Conor still has a Featherweight championship to defend.

Do you see the Mayweather-McGregor match up happening? Sound off in the comments below.

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]