Paulie Malignaggi – Conor McGregor

Of all the boxers and coaches mentioned here, unquestionably the most unusual interraction came when two-weight champion Paulie Malignaggi agreed to spar with Conor McGregor ahead of his professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2017.

There was already tension between the two fighters at the time, stemming from Malignaggi’s boast a few months earlier that he could beat McGregor with one hand tied behind his back.

As such their resulting sparring sessions became heated affairs that more closely resembled an actual fight than just gym work.

There was great media interest in how the first sparring session had gone and Malignaggi spoke to ESPN and danced around the issue, while McGregor then posted pictures of him with his hands behind his back while fighting a tired looking ‘Magic Man,’ as rumors emerged that he’d got the better of the boxer.

Malignaggi wasn’t happy about the leak, but the following week returned to spar again, and this time UFC owners Dana White and the Fertitta brothers were in attendance along with celebrities like Gordon Ramsey to watch the spectacle unfold.

Afterwards Malignaggi was again coy with the details, only for McGregor to then show pictures of the boxer on the canvas, and later short video clips showing him eating heavy punches and being dropped during the fight.

A furious Malignaggi quit McGregor’s camp and demanded the full video of the fight be released, but others in attendance suggested that the boxer had clearly come off second-best.

Malignaggi continually called out McGregor afterwards, but eventually settled for fighting the Irishman’s sparring partner Artem Lobov instead in a bareknuckle boxing bout and lost by decision.

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