Freddie Roach insists he has nothing against WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.
The Russian mixed martial arts star came back from the brink of defeat by brutally knocking out Roach’s protégé Andrei Arlovski in an Affliction bout in January.
The legendary American trainer had claimed the 31-year-old former Pride star got lucky with his winning punch, but, speaking exclusively to SunSport, Roach has moved to clear up the issue.
He said: “We had a great game plan and Anderei was fighting a perfect fight – and afterwards I asked Andrei, “Did it get too easy?!”
“Everything was really working well – we were the first people to really frustrate Fedor.
“He’s a great puncher but Andrei really hurt him with one of his kicks and he went in for the finish with a flying knee from six feet away – we never planned on that – and he got caught in mid air and got knocked out.
“And that’s the thing about fight sports – if you make a mistake you’ll pay for it, especially in the heavyweight division.
“But Fedor was looking at the floor when he threw the punch – my guy made the mistake of running into it.
“Andrei made a huge mistake. Fedor’s a great puncher and I have nothing against him – he did what it takes to win the fight.”
Roach is continuing to coach UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and revealed the 33-year-old Brazilian is still keen on fighting Roy Jones Jr in a boxing match.
He added: “Anderson Silva is going to be in my gym next month and he wants to fight Roy Jones.
"But he’s not quite ready for that yet although he’s going to be a good one.”
