It was just a sparring session, but former two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi had nothing but nice things to say about Conor McGregor after going eight rounds with UFC lightweight champion ahead of his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather on August 26.
Malignaggi was hired by McGregor and his camp to help him prepare for the fight. The session took place on Thursday. Malignaggi wouldn't give a full breakdown of the sparring session, as that is generally frowned upon in combat sports circles, but he did say:
"Eight rounds, good work. I can’t disclose too much but McGregor is no dummy... There’s a method to his madness. He has an idea of what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, he’s not clueless. He’s not your conventional boxer by any means but he’s capable and his power is good. Whether that can be effective is up to him, but he’s no dummy," according to Michael Woods of NYFights.com.
McGregor posted the image showing little regard for Malignaggi's power or skill.
McGregor is a mixed martial artist, who is also a plus athlete with a powerful build and good dexterity, so it isn't surprising that he would take to the sport quicker than most. Malignaggi is one of the best tacticians in the sport over the past 20 years.
He had very little punching power and moderate to slightly above-average speed, yet he was able to win two legitimate world titles in his career. He is currently among the best boxing analyst in the industry. To put it plainly his expertise and opinion carry weight.
On the flipside, it would be unprofessional and ill advised for Malignaggi to call out McGregor's shortcomings–assuming there were any. He may be considered for more work in the camp, but if he disparages McGregor's skills, the chances of being invited back would probably disappear.
That would also potentially hurt his reputation with other fighters. As a hardcore member of the boxer fraternity, that's probably not something Malignaggi would want to do.
Malignaggi also works for Showtime, the network that will exclusively broadcast the pay-per-view. Painting McGregor as an amateur may not be in line with the narrative the network wants to project. All of these elements are worth considering.
This is just the latest piece of intel to surface that makes the build-up to the fight all the more interesting. We'll know soon enough how prepared McGregor is for the challenge.
