Hall of Fame trainer Teddy Atlas recently revealed that he was approached by Francis Ngannou’s team - who wanted the veteran coach to train Ngannou for his upcoming fight with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Ngannou, a former UFC champion, will face Fury in a crossover boxing match on October 28 in Saudi Arabia.

Atlas was open to the idea of working with Ngannou, but he wanted to spend a few days with him before accepting or rejecting the proposal.

“I don’t always talk about things that haven’t come to pass, but Ngannou’s people had asked me about the possibility of training him,” Atlas said on his podcast THE FIGHT.

“Obviously, I just don’t train anyone – even if it’s a pile of oil money in the sand, it’s just obviously a score. I’m no saint with this stuff or a monk. But I’m not going to train someone unless I get to be around them and think they’re a good person, and think they’re coachable and that I think I can help them. I’m just not going to.

“So obviously, my way is that I’m going to spend a couple of days with you. That’s the deal, and it’s going to be a trial period. I’m not going to say yes or no until I go through the trial period and see if I want to work with you, and if I can work with you and if you can work with me. It’s fair for you too.”

Atlas would meet Ngannou in Las Vegas and spent some time with him.

But, the veteran coach was caught off-guard when he was advised, upon returning home from Las Vegas, that Ngannou had hired former champion Mike Tyson to train him.

“The next day, my son sends me a thing that they’re getting Mike Tyson to train him,” Atlas said. “Again, God bless – good, great. I’m sure that it’s going to bring extra pay-per-view buys at the very least, and look, Tyson was a tremendous fighter. We get it. And Ngannou is infatuated by him. He’s obsessed with Tyson. He wanted me to show him how to throw the Tyson uppercut, which I did.

“So all right, all that. I treat him like a gentleman, but obviously you made that deal with Tyson, and you’re asking me to go out to Vegas. Why won’t you be up front with me? It just don’t feel good. It just doesn’t feel good. I’m not crying. I guess what I am saying is, can’t we be better as people? I know money is money and that’s important, but isn’t it important to treat people right? Isn’t it important to keep your word? Again, they’re nice people, but when you’re tempted by these things, isn’t what’s more important for you to show those characteristics that I’m talking about of just decency, just honesty?”