By Keith Idec
Conor McGregor isn’t the least bit concerned about Paulie Malignaggi relaying sparring secrets to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Malignaggi sparred twice against McGregor before leaving the UFC superstar’s training camp on terrible terms last week. McGregor gave his version of Malignaggi’s time in camp Friday night after a training session at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
During that interview session, McGregor, who disputed Malignaggi’s account of events, didn’t appear worried that Malignaggi might make Mayweather aware of his tendencies in the ring leading up to their August 26 fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Malignaggi, a retired two-division champion who works as an analyst for Showtime Sports, has a cordial relationship with Mayweather, who has fought exclusively on Showtime Pay-Per-View since 2013. Mayweather has repeatedly praised Malignaggi’s work as a broadcaster and as a boxer during the promotion of his 12-round, 154-pound fight against McGregor.
Mayweather said during an interview with reporters Thursday at his gym in Las Vegas that he hasn’t reached out to Malignaggi to learn about McGregor. Other than the short clips UFC president Dana White released Friday night, there isn’t much boxing footage of McGregor available because the veteran mixed martial artist will make his professional boxing debut against Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs).
“Let him speak,” McGregor said. “I’m sure he has. You can’t prepare for me. You can’t prepare for me. You can’t prepare for the movement. You can’t prepare for any of it. He can sit here and watch this, and I’m sure he has been watching that. Let him watch. Let him try and study. But you cannot prepare for this. There’s nobody in the game that moves like me, that strikes like me and that has the confidence like me. So let them speak, let them talk. It’s all good.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
