Malignaggi thinks McGregor had agenda in picking him for sparring

Boxingnews24.com

By Jeff Aranow: Paulie Malignaggi left Conor McGregor’s camp this week in quitting as a sparring partner due to photos being leaked of him getting the worst of it during a sparring session. While Malignaggi maintains that he beat McGregor’s backside during their last sparring session on Tuesday, few people believe him due to the leaked photos.

One photo shows Malignaggi on his back on the canvas. Malignaggi says that he was pushed down by a frustrated McGregor. That’s not what McGregor is saying though.

Here’s what McGregor said about his sparring with Malignaggi:

”He stayed in there. You got to give respect for that, but that was it. He came, he got his [expletive] whopped, and that was it.”

It sounds like there’s some bad blood between McGregor and Malignaggi. Initially, Malignaggi had been saying what a nice guy McGregor, 29, was when he joined his training camp. But after leaving his camp this week, it seems like Malignaggi left on bad terms.

Malignaggi should have had his thinking cap on when he was asked to help McGregor as a sparring partner. It would seem painfully obvious that the reason why McGregor wanted Malignaggi to spar is so he could wail on him, and then brag about it afterwards. It helps McGregor that the photographers that leaked photos of the sparring sessions leaked ones that were flattering to him. We’ve seen stuff like this before. David Haye and Deontay Wilder sparring years ago before Wilder became a champion. A portion of their sparring session was released, and it appeared to be edited to look favorable to Haye. Wilder didn’t get upset about it like Malignaggi has about the photos that were leaked. You can say this.

Malignaggi is fortunate that only 2 photos were leaked instead of video of him getting the worst of it. Edited video would be far worse for Malignaggi if it only showed McGregor’s high points. It wouldn’t be surprising if video is released in the near future, as the McGregor-McGregor fight is only 3 weeks away. The more stuff that comes out that makes McGregor look credible, the better the fight will do on PPV.

The perception by many boxing fans is McGregor stands no chance of winning the fight against Mayweather. How do you change that perception in just 3 weeks? News about Malignaggi or other sparring partners getting worked over by McGreor definitely helps, as long as a lot of fans hear about it. If the news goes viral, then it’s a positive for McGregor. Oddly enough, it might even help Malignaggi’s career by making him better known in the sports world.

Malignaggi, 36, now feels that there was an agenda from the beginning by McGregor in hiring him as a sparring partner. Malignaggi had said things about McGregor in the past in how he would whip him if the two of them ever fought each other.

By getting Malignaggi in camp, McGregor had the opportunity go get back at him and put him in his place. At the same time, it obviously helps the Mayweather-McGregor promotion to have leaked photos of McGregor getting the better of Malignaggi released to the boxing and MMA public. With the photos leaked of a beaten up Malignaggi, it gives McGregor more credibility as a serious threat to Mayweather for their fight on August 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The more boxing fans and MMA fans believe McGregor to have a chance against Mayweather, the more PPV buys the fight will generate on Showtime.

“Nah, I pretty much talked [expletive] that whole sparring session while I beat the breaks off him, the push down was his frustration from it,” said Malignaggi on his Twitter about his sparring with McGregor. ”Only his personal photographers allowed in the gym. Don’t just invent you’re own reality of things because it’s how you wish it to be, buddy. Maybe but I didn’t pay for anything, a video exists, UFC PI has 24 hour cameras, when the fight is over will they release UNEDITED film?” said Malignaggi.

I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were Malignaggi waiting for the unedited film of the sparring sessions to be released by McGregor and his camp. I don’t see that happening. Why would they release the whole video when he looks better with leaked photos that make him look good and Malignaggi look bad. I don’t see it happening. Malignaggi is going to probably live with the current situation with the existing stuff out there with the photos, and possibly other leaked photos or video.

“The pictures cause the media to rush me for answers, unlike you; I’m not an irrelevant nobody,”
said Malignaggi on his Twitter. ”Pictures of me cause a media rush, I can’t avoid, get it?Very good observation there. Good way to educate the Conor groupies and casuals. [Joe] Cortez reaction is a big hint. I did but I didn’t get paid anyway. Now go back and be a good little groupie and tweet about your Conor fantasies and stories.”

Malignaggi being so well known is just one reason why he shouldn’t have agreed to spar with McGregor. When you’re as well known as Malignaggi, it’s not a good idea to spar with novice fighters, because they’re looking to make a name for themselves. McGregor has no background in boxing, so if word spreads around how he worked over Malignaggi, then it makes him look good. With all the people in the camp working for McGregor, it leaves Malignaggi all by himself to try and tell the boing and MMA fans that it was him that worked over McGregor and not vice versa. The fans are likely going to believe the leaked photos of the sparring sessions rather than what Malignaggi is saying.

”Hate to say it but it’s clear when I look back at my time there that there was an agenda from the start, too many clues,” said Malignaggi. ”You’re kidding with that question right? Like no way you’re this stupid. Conor’s people and ONLY Conor’s people were allowed in gym, and his photographers only. I didn’t get paid; I’m not worried about it though. I paid him with the [expletive] beating he received from me on Tuesday lol,” said Malignaggi.

With McGregor and Malignaggi both saying that they whipped each other’s backside during the sparring, the fans have to decide for themselves which of the two of them is the more believable. The leaked photos make McGregor look very good and Malignaggi very bad. Malignaggi’s face is swollen and red in one of the photos. In contrast, McGregor’s face looks unmarked. It doesn’t help that Malignaggi looks puffy, thick around the midsection and clearly out of shape. You can see fat in his face that wasn’t there in his last fight on March 4 against Sam Eggington. Malignaggi was stopped in the 8th round by the 23-year-old Eggington. Malignaggi has definitely put on weight in the last 5 months since that fight. To be a sparring partner, you need to be in shape. Malignaggi is not in good shape right now. That was mistake number 1. Mistake number 2 was for Malignaggi to agree to help McGregor with sparring. After all the trash talking that Malignaggi did about McGregor, he should have known that he might have been brought into training camp for another reason other than to help McGregor with sparring. It should have been a red flag in Malignaggi’s mind as soon as he was asked if he would be interested in helping McGregor.

That kind of sparring is normal for boxers on a high level,” said Malignaggi about the rough sparring he had with McGregor.” I boxed many years, so it’s normal, but to put a weird spin on things is unethical.”

It’ll be interesting if McGregor’s other sparring partners have any problems with photos leaking of their sparring sessions with him. Leaked photos don’t work nearly as well when it’s a boxer that isn’t well known like Malignaggi.