Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi continue to go back and forth about their much-talked about sparring session. One heated point of discussion continues to be the aforementioned knockdown. In a short video clip released by UFC President Dana White a few days ago, McGregor was shown knocking down Malignaggi with a combination.
Malignaggi maintains it wasn’t a legit knockdown, but rather a push down and trip. The internet on the other hand has leaned towards calling it a legit knockdown. The video clip shows the combination landing from two angles.
However, one thing Malignaggi has maintained is that he dominated the full 12 round session. The former welterweight boxing world champion is currently on Twitter, ranting and calling out White and McGregor to release complete footage of the sparring.
In an interview with Sky Sports, White clears the air and says McGregor completely dominated Malignaggi.
White sets the record straight on who dominated who between McGregor and Malignaggi
With a huge grin on his face, White elaborates on what really happened between McGregor and Malignaggi.
“What am I, Steven Spielberg? I mean come on, it’s footage of the actual sparring. I was there for all twelve rounds and Paulie has said some crazy things, some bad things about me, I felt sorry for the guy. It was a one way beating and a lot of people are saying Conor couldn’t box. Paulie was obviously lying about everything he said about the sparring match, so I released it,” said White.
Malignaggi has of course dared White and company to release complete footage of all twelve rounds. However, it’s not that simple according to White.
“I got no problem releasing the full tape. The problem is that Conor doesn’t want Mayweather to see everything that he’s doing and everything that he’s working on. Those are just some small clips. It was very one-sided, it was an absolute beating. And guess what? I think it was the right thing for Paulie Malignaggi to definitely leave. For his health’s sake!”
White goes on to say that McGregor is very difficult to study, so Mayweather won’t get much out of the tape.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KsYr-JrPY&w=1920&h=974]
White explains there is a chance 8 oz. gloves get approved for Mayweather fight
One huge turning point this week is a possible change in glove size. White gives us an update on where that’s headed.
“Yeah he (McGregor) feels good, he looks great. He told me he’s never felt stronger and he’s had a great camp,” said White.
“It definitely benefits Conor. If you look at Floyd’s style, first of all, Floyd’s not a big puncher. He’s not a big knockout puncher and his whole game is defense, using the gloves to defend himself. And smaller gloves obviously gives Conor more places to hit. We always wanted smaller gloves. They didn’t want it and now all of a sudden Floyd has changed his mind and say they will go with the smaller gloves.”
White reveals that there is a hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission later on this week. There is a slight glimmer of hope that the commission will allow the change in glove size, even though the contract stipulates the use of larger gloves.
“Not at all, he (McGregor) is not concerned about Floyd’s punching power at all. But, Floyd needs to be concerned with Conor’s punching power with smaller gloves on,” White added. “I stopped doubting Conor McGregor a long time ago. This kid has done everything he told me he would do and he’s told me he’s going to knock Floyd Mayweather out in four rounds.”
The world will finally know what happens on August 26th. We are 12 days away.
