By Radio Rahim
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach was brutally honest in a recent conversation with former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather - advising the retired pound-for-pound king that it would take at least three years to properly prepare UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor for a high-level boxing match.
In several recent interviews, Mayweather has been hinting on the possibility of a ring return in the fall - and he continues to push the idea of a fantasy fight with McGregor, who never took part in a professional boxing match.
According to Roach, Mayweather appears to be very serious about moving forward with a McGregor fight.
McGregor had a sparring session at Roach's Wild Card West Boxing Club in California. The veteran trainer was informed that welterweight contender Chris Van Heerden of South Africa did a number on McGregor, which promoted Roach to tell Mayweather that it would take several years for McGregor to even be competitive on the highest level in boxing.
"Mayweather said that if he calls you to train him, I want you to train him because I want to fight him. And I told Mayweather that it might take me three years to train him to fight you in a boxing match because he's not a boxer. There are a lot of rumors out there but I've never spoke with [McGregor] and he's never been in my gym," Roach told BoxingScene.com.
"I know that McGregor sparred with my South African fighter and my South African fighter beat him up a little bit. That's what I heard, at Wild Card West, and that's the only information I have [on what happened]."
