Paulie Malignaggi has done a fantastic job of making lemonade when Conor McGregor’s team handed him those lemons.
Ever since it was announced that Paulie Malignaggi was drafted in as a sparring partner for Conor McGregor, the two-time boxing world champion made it all about him.
There wasn’t an interview under the sun that he didn’t take. If you didn’t know any better, you would think that he was promoting one of his own fights and looking back now, perhaps he was.
Once Malignaggi rage-quit the camp after sparring footage got leaked, his presence in the media only intensified. He tore the snippet to shreds, praising McGregor’s team for their ‘clever’ editing skills and claimed that those few seconds didn’t accurately represent the full 20 rounds.
Paulie Malignaggi is sure to respond https://t.co/yZJZNHP48R
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) August 26, 2017
Remarkably, Malignaggi is now one of the frontrunners to be McGregor’s next opponent. There’s a storyline there that will grip audiences, god knows there’s beef and, of course, there’s the money involved.
Although there are big fights waiting for McGregor in the UFC, it is arguable that a boxing bout against Malignaggi may be better for the Dubliner’s bank balance. If he’s so confident that the sparring sessions were as one-sided as Dana White claimed, the offer Malignaggi dropped The MMA Hour may entice ‘the Notorious’.
“I’m all about it, man. I tell you, I’ll make it winner takes all. I’m willing to risk fighting him for free just to punch him in the mouth again and again and again. That’s how confident I am they can’t beat me.
“I would make it winner takes all just for the pleasure of sinking my fist back into his teeth again. That’s how confident I am.”
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/898294679707545601
There’s more to it than that. Malignaggi is so confident that he would put McGregor away with a proper training camp under his belt that he is willing to add a clause to his contract forfeiting some of his purse if he doesn’t get the finish.
“You have to keep in mind that Joe (Cortez) is talking about how competitive sparring was. This was me at about 35-40%. Conor gets stopped by me. If Conor doesn’t get stopped by me – and I’m a guy who doesn’t get a lot of stoppages – if Conor doesn’t get stopped by me I should get penalised at least a portion of my purse just for not stopping the guy.”
While we’re really hoping McGregor opts for a fight against the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee, completing the trilogy against Nate Diaz or literally any MMA fight, we could see why this offer might tempt him.
