“I didn’t expect to go in there and for it to be a picnic.”
Paulie Malignaggi has had his first sparring session with Conor McGregor and it may not be his last.
The two-time world champion boxer, and Showtime pundit, was brought in to help McGregor prepare for his August 26 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr in Las Vegas.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWzc2i3gQek/
He was supposed to do six rounds with ‘The Notorious’ but both men ended up enjoying it so much that they went for eight. Brett Okamoto of ESPN caught up with Malignaggi on Friday to get his take on the session. He said:
“It was kind of fun because I don’t have everybody who can match my trash-talking but Conor definitely can.”
He added: “There is a game-plan behind what he is doing. There’s a method behind Conor’s madness… He’s got some pop in his left hand, that’s pretty obvious, but in boxing and against someone like Mayweather you need a few other weapons and that, I think, is what Conor is working on.”
Malignaggi definitely looks like he was caught by a couple of McGregor shots during the session. There were distinct marks on his right cheek and below his left eye that were not visible when the 36-year-old was on Showtime duty in Toronto on July 13.
Following the longer than usual sparring session, the atmosphere became instantly more cordial.
“Once the sparring was over, we had a good talk,” Malignaggi revealed. “He was very cordial. He expressed to me that he’d like me to stay for the rest of camp.
“We’ll continue to work. I was happy to speak to him cordially because before that we hadn’t been cordial, even in the ring.”
Check out the full interview below:
https://youtu.be/-cr5FQRKL6I
