Conor McGregor has now lost out on two high-profile sparring partners because of how he treated Paulie Malignaggi.
Remember when Conor McGregor first spoke about drafting Paulie Malignaggi into his camp? It was obvious from that moment in Los Angeles that the situation wasn’t going to end well.
“We’re going to have a knock, then he’s going to have to answer to what he’s been saying.”
Sure enough, they had 20 rounds worth of a knock that ended with the former two-weight world boxing champion accusing Team McGregor of deliberately leaking photos to make him look bad.
Then the whole beef just got uglier and uglier.
Malignaggi has been relentlessly talking shit about the McGregor camp since their very public falling out. His complaints about how he and other sparring partners were treated have directly affected their ability to bring in certain fighters for McGregor to spar.
The retired pugilist told Cagesiders that Andre Berto was set to spar with the UFC superstar until the two-time welterweight world champion was put off by the treatment he received.
“I spoke to Andre Berto. Andre was supposed to go there and box on Saturday, and he changed his mind after seeing what happened with me.”
Malignaggi may have been onto something when he predicted that McGregor would have trouble getting “any help” in boxing because of his “sneaky tactics.”
Former IBF champion Steve Forbes recently told Fight Hub TV that he too “got the call” to spar with the Dubliner. However, just like Berto, he couldn’t ignore what had happened to Malignaggi.
“We didn’t even get to (talking about money). It’s just the way how it was handled with Paulie. Plus, I haven’t been sparring or training really like that. Yeah, I know. They’d make me look bad because I’m not in condition. No way! People were like ‘oh you would be able to handle that,’ but I haven’t been sparring.”
While Forbes is 40 and hasn’t fought since losing to Johan Perez in 2013, he would have been a good asset for McGregor. Not only has he sparred with Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez, but he has also fought Oscar De La Hoya and Berto.
