FREDDIE ROACH ADMITS that Conor McGregor would “have his hands full” against Floyd Mayweather Jr but thinks the UFC lightweight champion should not be written off if the bout is confirmed.
Trainer Roach told The MMA Hour on MMAFighting.com that the the much talked about fight “looks like it’s going to happen.”
And he does not believe the Dubliner will be the boxing pushover many predict if he does step into the ring with the legendary Mayweather.
“He is a pretty good striker,” Roach said of McGregor. “The thing is, Floyd is a great boxer. He’s really good at hitting and not getting hit and so forth.
“I think it would take a long time for Conor to get ready for a boxing match, a pure boxing match. But, you know, one punch can change everything. It’s the sport we’re in.
“I’m not going to count him out completely. I think Mayweather is the favourite, yes, but I wouldn’t count anyone out. Because he throws, he throws hard and he’s not afraid to throw.”
McGregor’s boxing experience is only at amateur level, so even as an elite MMA fighter he would need to be trained up significantly to face one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in history.
Roach, who trained Manny Pacquaio for his defeat to Mayweather in 2015, would be interested in taking that role, but a stumbling block is his current coaching relationship with Georges St-Pierre, for whom he helped broker a new deal to return to the UFC.
“I would like to try to help [McGregor] to get ready,” Roach said. “That would be an honour for me, yes. Right now, Georges is my main concern. Georges has first priority at this point.”
