Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi has quit as Conor McGregor’s sparring partner after an image was leaked showed Malignaggi on the canvas and seemingly getting pummeled by McGregor.
Malignaggi discussed the images on Twitter.
“It’s not nice to paint a pic that isn’t true, this was a pushdown in sparring, post the whole video rounds 1 through 12 UNEDITED…the UFC PI has cameras all over the gym recording 24/7. The video exists UNEDITED of rounds 1 through 12 Tuesday night, let the fans see…I came to help this camp out, not to be exploited, now you’re gonna get the truth though. Post FULL UNEDITED VIDEO FROM TUES night…I actually beat his ass, 24 hours off a flight too lol, which is why I’m saying post the vid. I try not to be petty but seems it’s late for that now…I did interview BECAUSE of the pics, I’m not your average sparring partner. You post pics with me, media will hound me, I’ve said stop with pics…Only his personal photographers allowed in the gym. Don’t just invent your own reality of things because it’s how you wish it to be buddy.”
Paulie also released a statement via Facebook.
“I just wanted to clear the air. I am leaving the McGregor training camp today. I came with best intentions & intended to help out. Just the chance to be part of such a big event in this capacity excited me. I believe Conor and I have a mutual respect inside the ring, earned from each other with some good work over two sparring sessions.
“It’s some of the stuff outside the ring and some ways some things were handled in training camp that I didn’t agree with that made me come to this decision. It’s not my place to dictate terms in a training camp that is not mine, but it’s my place to decide if I I want to be a part of it. I will not give away anything tactical that I saw in two sparring sessions with Conor. For what it’s worth, they have my word. The things that upset me though I will speak about in time.”
This fight and it's accompaniment is like a self perpetuating rumour and drama ball gathering momentum until the day/fight comes......and then when it comes........ it will be stale. Can't believe this really has taken it all away from GGG Canelo.
I really enjoy his commentary ringside but Paulie is just a dikhead the rest of the time. For some reason I follow him on Twitter and he just berates people all day calling people names if he doesn't agree with their opinions. Obviously, the pictures released were meant to give CM more legitimacy as a boxer and to sell more tickets and PPV. Paulie could have come clean after the fight with what really happened but he's an infant and thinks he's the big story here but no one cares. He's just a punk and a dumb punk at that who is going to piss away his cushy career as an analyst with his immaturity and childish temperament. The kid needs a publicist to grab him by the back of his neck and smarten him up.
caldo2025 wrote:I really enjoy his commentary ringside but Paulie is just a dikhead the rest of the time. For some reason I follow him on Twitter and he just berates people all day calling people names if he doesn't agree with their opinions. Obviously, the pictures released were meant to give CM more legitimacy as a boxer and to sell more tickets and PPV. Paulie could have come clean after the fight with what really happened but he's an infant and thinks he's the big story here but no one cares. He's just a punk and a dumb punk at that who is going to piss away his cushy career as an analyst with his immaturity and childish temperament. The kid needs a publicist to grab him by the back of his neck and smarten him up.
So Paulie releases a picture with Conor flat on his back and saying it's all about the power or whatever, yet he didn't knock him down he pushed him down you think Conor wouldn't say or do anything?
Why are they even putting out these stills? That they're single frame photographs rather than actual footage says a lot, you know damn well had he flattened Paulie the video would be all over the internet.
caldo2025 wrote:I really enjoy his commentary ringside but Paulie is just a dikhead the rest of the time. For some reason I follow him on Twitter and he just berates people all day calling people names if he doesn't agree with their opinions. Obviously, the pictures released were meant to give CM more legitimacy as a boxer and to sell more tickets and PPV. Paulie could have come clean after the fight with what really happened but he's an infant and thinks he's the big story here but no one cares. He's just a punk and a dumb punk at that who is going to piss away his cushy career as an analyst with his immaturity and childish temperament. The kid needs a publicist to grab him by the back of his neck and smarten him up.
So Paulie releases a picture with Conor flat on his back and saying it's all about the power or whatever, yet he didn't knock him down he pushed him down you think Conor wouldn't say or do anything?
Why are they even putting out these stills? That they're single frame photographs rather than actual footage says a lot, you know damn well had he flattened Paulie the video would be all over the internet.
I generally hate when i hear any opinions based on something that happens in a sparring session in training camps. The only sparring result/rumor spread that had any worthiness was when Tyson got knocked down in sparring leading up to his fight with Douglas. Some lucky people put some money on Douglas on the basis of that and made out quite well.
For instance, GGG and Canelo sparred years ago and the results mean very little to how this fight will shake out. Maybe Canelo has some added confidence that he can hang with GGG after it but I doubt little else means much.
I get your point and you can bet CM would probably hit social media faster than Paula (not a typo) did. But the fight is not selling well right now and I wouldn't be surprised if TMT had something to do with releasing the photo as well. I'm hearing that ticket demand and initial PPV estimates have some folks worried over this fight big time. With the guarantee money involved in this fight, it could be a catastrophe. I just think Paula could have helped selling the fight instead he's hurt it by shifting spotlight and negatively spinning CM's performance in sparring. He could have just shut up and no one really even knew it was him. Just looked like a short fat kid to me.
Is he commentating the fight? All he had to say was the knockdown was really him being pushed. He didn't have to say that he beat McGregor's a$$, even if it is true.
The fact that Paulie is not allowed to talk about Conro's skills and details of the sessions indicates there is a lot to hide. Lending further credence that this is a giant fix for Conor to win so Floyd can get out of debt and pay off the IRS $30 million.
Sequitorian wrote:McG is releasing stills instead of video because he's a contemptible little weasel at heart ...
... that's his nature ... that's his character ... that's what he's made of ...
... like all MMA scum ... (including their fans, by the way) ...
There's a lot of crossover appeal between MMA and Boxing and Kickboxing. There are people who are fans of Combat Sports in general. Are you that jackass that posted that whole ridiculous thing about how MMA wasn't manly or it was Anti-American or some sh*t?
gilgamesh wrote:I can only assume they got a different sparring partner, and Malignaggi's pissed about losing his gig?
They put out pictures of Paulie down like it was a knockdown and he said he was pushed. I can see how that would embarrass him.
Yeah. He probably just looked at it like "You ain't paying me enough to try to act like you're f*cking me up in sparring" which I can respect. Either that or just no amount of money is worth it because he's probably doing alright anyway.
