Win or lose on Saturday night, Conor McGregor will have a fascinating potential opponent awaiting him if he decides to hang around the professional boxing ranks.
Interest continues to swell for a clash between ‘The Notorious’ and the most high-profile sparring partner he brought in to help him prepare for Floyd Mayweather this weekend.
It’s well-documented by now but Paulie Malignaggi, a former two-weight world champion, remains very unhappy with how he was treated in McGregor’s training camp in Las Vegas ahead of his super-fight with ‘Money’.
Malignaggi left McGregor’s camp after two sparring sessions, accusing the Irishman of misleading editing and disrespect in relation to the social media portrayal of a disputed knockdown in their second session.
Following the release of a photograph showing Malignaggi on the canvas, the retired boxer insisted that it was a pushdown that had floored him but McGregor has since published footage of the sequence that seemed to show Malignaggi being downed legitimately.
For all the people who think @TheNotoriousMMA can't box. This is gonna be a FIGHT! Conor vs Paulie Malignaggi former IBF/WBA World Champion. pic.twitter.com/CcTkFq0fhr
— danawhite (@danawhite) August 12, 2017
Malignaggi will cover this weekend’s monster bout between McGregor and Mayweather for Showtime and he was in attendance at the so-called Grand Arrival of the fighters on Tuesday.
The exchange got heated as the pair squared up to one another on the T-Mobile Arena premises and the argument seems to have stemmed from a conversation between Malignaggi and McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar.
“I just saw him lurking around and he started talking to my manager, Audie,” McGregor explained after the incident.
“I saw him talking and I walked over. He was still talking to Audie and wouldn’t look at me. I put my hand on him and said: ‘What’s wrong with you? What’s up with you?’ And he just put his head down.
“I was like: ‘Mate, get over it! You look stupid. You got your ass whooped but it’s done.’
“I actually don’t know [the intention]. I think maybe he was looking for a little spot but whatever. Leave him to it.
“It was a little show. He’s alright. I still don’t mind Paulie, even after all the stuff.”
