McGregor To Use Malignaggi as Sparring Partner For Mayweather

[Ruthless-RKO]

McGregor is planning to spar with former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi ahead of the cross-sport showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

Last week, McGregor's camp had promised to secure several sparring partners that fans would very familiar with.

Interestingly, Malignaggi once called this fight "a joke" and said he would “knock the beard off” McGregor if they ever fought each other last year.

Speaking on his "From Brooklyn to the World" podcast, Malignaggi said: "I did get called to go into camp with Conor McGregor. I was surprised. I haven't really been training, I haven't been in the gym. So I've started working out a little bit. I'm working out the details to spar with McGregor. … "There's a lot of curiosity I have. I know he's an ultra-electric competitor and I've seen him fight in UFC, obviously, and I think he's very talented. I'm curious to see just the kind of progress he's made."

"I did call him out and I think that shows the character of the man. He could have said, 'Screw that kid, he called me out. I'm not going to put him in my training camp'. I think it shows the competitive spirit and the willingness to want to learn on the part of McGregor. It shows you how hungry he is, because he put that pride aside and it's not easy to put pride aside, especially when you're a fighter. It makes me respect him a little more."

[BitPlayer]

Probably a good choice. Not that it'll help much.

[Jip]

He d need a more athletic sparring partner. With more trickyness, physicly fresher. Timmy or Khan for example.

[gilgamesh]

Malignaggi even at his best couldn't imitate all of the nuances of Mayweather's style, the only thing this'll really do is give Conor an idea of just how deep he's gotten himself in here because Paulie's gonna be having an easy time with him in sparring too I'll bet.

[BitPlayer]

Malignaggi even at his best couldn't imitate all of the nuances of Mayweather's style, the only thing this'll really do is give Conor an idea of just how deep he's gotten himself in here because Paulie's gonna be having an easy time with him in sparring too I'll bet.

You've got to walk before you can run.

[Nightmare Roy]

He hasn't even got a boxing trainer, that pretty much says everything you need to know.

[MachoTime]

He d need a more athletic sparring partner. With more trickyness, physicly fresher. Timmy or Khan for example.

Berto would be a good choice.

[Lackeos]

Malignaggi is an okay sparring partner to prepare for Mayweather. Most boxers don't get world class sparring partners for world class fights, so Malignaggi is just about par for the course. It'd be nice if he could also get Broner and Lara, but I mean... Broner probably wouldn't work against Mayweather and Lara would f*ck McGregor up.

[RScarf1]

Malignaggi is an okay sparring partner to prepare for Mayweather. Most boxers don't get world class sparring partners for world class fights, so Malignaggi is just about par for the course. It'd be nice if he could also get Broner and Lara, but I mean... Broner probably wouldn't work against Mayweather and Lara would f*ck McGregor up.

I think Lara would give McGregor a tougher fight than Mayweather at this stage in Mayweather's career.

[KiwiRider]

Isn't Paulie a bit shorter than Floyd?
I really can't see Connor being even slightly ready for this fight. No way, no how.

[montrealsuper]

Paulie has been added to the script!

[Kalan]

McGregor is planning to spar with former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi ahead of the cross-sport showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

Last week, McGregor's camp had promised to secure several sparring partners that fans would very familiar with.

Interestingly, Malignaggi once called this fight "a joke" and said he would “knock the beard off” McGregor if they ever fought each other last year.

Speaking on his "From Brooklyn to the World" podcast, Malignaggi said: "I did get called to go into camp with Conor McGregor. I was surprised. I haven't really been training, I haven't been in the gym. So I've started working out a little bit. I'm working out the details to spar with McGregor. … "There's a lot of curiosity I have. I know he's an ultra-electric competitor and I've seen him fight in UFC, obviously, and I think he's very talented. I'm curious to see just the kind of progress he's made."

"I did call him out and I think that shows the character of the man. He could have said, 'Screw that kid, he called me out. I'm not going to put him in my training camp'. I think it shows the competitive spirit and the willingness to want to learn on the part of McGregor. It shows you how hungry he is, because he put that pride aside and it's not easy to put pride aside, especially when you're a fighter. It makes me respect him a little more."

What is Malignaggi saying??? ... That's the kind of BS you say to cover your ass when you get a well paying gig like this... Because he down graded this fight to no end and claimed he'd knock the fuk out of McGregor... Conor doesn't care what Paulie said or if he called his mother a whore... He's focused on beating Mayweather and he's got a million miles to go.. He's got to get sparring partners into camp and he's got to get his ass going right away.. If he manages to beat Paulie up he'll bring better guys in.. But 3 or 4 years ago Shawn Porter destroyed Paulie.. So kicking the sh!t out of Paulie won't mean anything.

[Jip]

He d need a more athletic sparring partner. With more trickyness, physicly fresher. Timmy or Khan for example.

Berto would be a good choice.

Yeah. Guys like this. Athletic with a bit of power and slicknes

[Bigdogsnose]

An out of shape Paulie Malinaggi might even act to give Mcgregor a false sense of security. With the head gear on I could see Mcgregor imposing himself on Paulie far more than he ever could against Mayweather. Paulie always looked a tiny welterweight (no idea why he moved up, albeit he did win a belt so fair play to him).

Mcgregor is surely a much bigger man and would just look to try and bully feather fisted paulie.

Sure Paulie's footwork and nous will mean he will school him at times, but that's what the sparring will be about.

[Enlightened-One]

Conor McGregor is not a stupid man! He’s not going to try to use a combination of his brute strength, coupled with his youth and natural athleticism, to overwhelm Paulie Malignaggi into submission during sparring, because he won’t learn a damn thing from that!

Conor will use the experience of sparring against the veteran Paulie to simply refine his skills and to learn to understand his own weaknesses.

The Irishman almost certainly won’t be going all guns blazing and throwing his heaviest blows against a retired out-of-shape fighter like Malignaggi.

McGregor will learn the most when he’s being comprehensively outboxed by Malignaggi (at least until the New York native runs out-of-gas during sparring). And for that reason alone, the UFC fighter has picked an ideal sparring partner for his preparation against Money May.

For sure, Paulie Malignaggi might not be the “perfect” sparring partner for Conor McGregor, but he’s a damn good pick.

[caldo2025]

Oh great...Paulie's going to show him the slap jab and the the slap fight hand of his that never hurt a boxer in his career.

[Badhusker]

A big plus of having Paulie in camp is his ring smarts. I think he is a great analyst, and knows the game well. To me he would be just as valuable or more as a trainer for McGregor than a sparring partner. He is a decent boxer, and will no doubt give McGregor some valuable advice and tips.

[Lackeos]

Paulie has been added to the script!

It's not too late to work Tyson Fury in.

[montrealsuper]

Paulie has been added to the script!

It's not too late to work Tyson Fury in.

Fury can't be bothered with such nonsense - Hatton could get a call and script in the mail

[Tony1244]

This fight is just a focking joke. GGG is the only opponent for Mayweather.

Anyone who pays for this fight is verifiably insane.

[Kalan]

I would try to get Alan Sanchez... Leonard Bundu... Sadam Ali... Alex Saucedo... Egidijus Kavaliaukas... Dmitry Mikhaylenko... Kanstantin Ponomarev... Tewa Kiram... Jose Benavidez... Yordenis Ugas... Even Keith Thurman who's a big fan of McGregor's... Paulie is just for starters... When you start to get a jab and some defense going he can't help.. You need some real good orthodox Welterweights who can box and teach you the balance, jab, defense, countering and whatnot.

I would spend at least 2 or 3 million dollars on sparring partners and coaching -- because you're making 100 million potentially... This is a fight you'll be remembered for -- for the rest of your life... If you pay your sparring partners really well... feed them really well... give them tickets to shows... Have an excellent spacious camp, with all the amenities... They're not going to beat the crap out of you... They'll give you advice...

Floyd is an old man -- and the only chance you have is to grab some knowledge and skills as fast as you possibly can.

[keithmoonhangover]

Good choice. Paulie is a very knowledgeable guy. MxGregor still won't land a clean punch. BoxRec has a this as a 0 star fight, says it all.

[Kalan]

This fight is just a focking joke. GGG is the only opponent for Mayweather.

Anyone who pays for this fight is verifiably insane.

How about if you go to a fight party and just watch for free??? ... and it's down the block so you don't have to pay for gas???

[gilgamesh]

This fight is just a focking joke. GGG is the only opponent for Mayweather.

Anyone who pays for this fight is verifiably insane.

Why would GGG be the only opponent for Floyd? You have the entire Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions. Most of whom Floyd hasn't fought.

[Badhusker]

This fight is just a focking joke. GGG is the only opponent for Mayweather.

Anyone who pays for this fight is verifiably insane.

Why would GGG be the only opponent for Floyd? You have the entire Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions. Most of whom Floyd hasn't fought.

Floyd is 40 yrs old ffs. He has about the same chance of moving up to fight GGG as GGG has of moving up to fight Ward. Floyd is no fool. Fight young prime lions like Crawford, Spence, etc? I hate to disappoint those that pray that someone beats Floyd, but not a chance in hell of that happening either. McGregor fight is a side show, kind of like when Floyd "fought" and "KO'd Big Show. (with brass knuckles) How short our memories are...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua3nTNttHKw