Malignaggi Looks Forward To Having a Knock With McGregor

Last week, former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi revealed that he was approached by the handlers of UFC champion Conor McGregor, to help the MMA superstar prepare for his upcoming boxing match with five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Malignaggi retired earlier this year after suffering a knockout loss at the hands of Sam Eggington. The ex-boxer has focused his energies on a full-time career in commentating, primarily on Showtime and Sky Sports.

Even in retirement, Malignaggi is more than happy to help McGregor get ready for the biggest fight is his career.

The fight is scheduled to take place on August 26th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Malignaggi was told by McGregor's coaches, John Kavangh and Owen Roddy, that his purpose in the camp will only be that of a sparring partner - but if he sees a serious issue, on a technical end, he will advise accordingly.

“This is the first time that ever happened to me, so in my professional experience when I used to run my own training camps, I’d make all the decisions. I’d meet with my team and we’d make all the decisions as far as how long sparring partners should stay, when a sparring partner should go, and all this other stuff. So, if I’m going by the way that I look at things, all those decisions are going to be up to them — how long they want to keep me around for, how long they don’t want to keep me around for, and so on and so forth. I’m just there to accommodate as best as I can," Malignaggi told The MMA Hour.

“If I’m going to give a couple of technical tidbits, maybe, maybe not, but I definitely won’t come talking about training (McGregor),” Malignaggi said. “I think his team has that foundation down pat and they’re going to be doing the training, and they’re going to be in charge of all that. But of course, I’ll be going there to spar, and if I see anything and we’re on good terms, of course I’ll share my views on some things.”

“Fight night is one thing, but especially sparring; it’s very intense, but at the same time, it’s nothing I haven’t done before, thousands of thousands of rounds in my life. I’m confident about what I can do in there and I’m sure Conor is confident about what he can do in there, and yeah, we’ll probably have a knock. We’ll have a knock or even two or three. But I’m sure it’ll be all good, and if I can help out and do my part in the camp, then I’ll be happy.”