CONOR McGREGOR showcased his raw talent aged just 12 – but his coaches knew his future was never destined for the boxing ring.
McGregor wandered into the Crumlin Boxing club with muddy football boots as a youngster and immediately impressed head trainer Phil Sutcliffe.
And despite later choosing a career in mixed martial arts over boxing – he remains Sutcliffe’s most famous graduate from the gym.
It is now over two decades since McGregor trotted into the club on his first day but Sutcliffe said: “Course I remember…
“When he walked in, I told him he had to take his boots off.
“He was playing football against Crumlin United. He was a little blonde kid, good looking kid, but he had his football boots on.
“You don’t walk on the floor with your football boots full of mud, so we told him to take them off.
“He started punching the bags. I said if you want to join, get your ma’ and da’ down. You have to fill in a form and apply.”
The gym is located on Dublin’s south side and has been producing champions since the 1940s.
Chief trainer Sutcliffe is an Irish amateur boxing great, having competed in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
Sutcliffe coached McGregor through his teens and has no doubt he had the skills and making of a future boxing champion.
But at 16 he chose MMA over the sweet science – sacrificing his potential as a top pugilist.
Sutcliffe said: “In pure boxing ability he was as equal to them but he didn’t put in enough for the one talent.
“It’s like if you wanted to play rugby but you play on the soccer pitch. It’s hard to master the two.
“If you want to play rugby you need to be tough, you want to be fast but in soccer you want to be skillful, you want to be avoiding.
“It’s the same in the boxing. If you want to box, you stay boxing. But Conor mastered the ability of reading. Reading the shot that comes at you.
“He always mastered that from an early age of 12, he was able to avoid, he was able to move comfortably.”
McGregor’s choice of MMA over boxing paid off having become the UFC’s greatest star – but at the time Sutcliffe could not see the vision.
He admitted: “I was never fond of mixed martial arts, I thought it was barbaric until I got involved and saw the amount of work these boys have to put into it.
“I saw it and thought, This is interesting.'”
McGregor only returned to boxing once in 2017 when he lost in ten rounds to American great Floyd Mayweather.
In the aftermath of his defeat, the southpaw returned to his roots and Crumlin coaches to be part of his training and corner team.
McGregor made sure to give back to the gym that first honed his skills having paid thousands to renovate the club.
Pictures of the UFC legend training and boxing drape the gym walls while there is a huge mural dedicated to his success.
But he is not the only legendary fighter commemorated in the gym with paintings of Mike Tyson, Ricky Hatton and Roy Jones Jr filling the walls.
McGregor still visits during his training camp to sharpen his boxing and was doing so before his scheduled return on June 29.
But he was forced to pull out of the comeback fight against Michael Chandler, 38, due to a toe injury with his UFC future still in the air.
McGregor has been linked with a return to boxing in the past to fight the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez.
And Sutcliffe hopes to see it having not been part of the Mayweather bout.
He chuckled: “I hope he boxes for me, I’ll get another payday!”
