It’s best to just let things go sometimes. Paulie Malignaggi (36-8) is a former boxer who unexpectedly had a larger role in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor cross-sport boxing match in 2017. During one specific sparring session with “The Notorious” prior to the fight, Malignaggi was captured on camera being taken out by the former UFC double champion. Regretfully for Malignaggi, conflicting accounts of the events persisted in the ether until the video eventually came to light. Finally, Malignaggi and McGregor’s short romance soured, which put Malignaggi in a bare-knuckle boxing bout against Artem Lobov, McGregor’s former closest buddy. Malignaggi, 43, continues to maintain that McGregor didn’t want any part of him even after losing a contentious unanimous decision.
Action Network was informed by Malignaggi that “I’m a better trash talker than McGregor, which is one of the reasons he did not fight me. I would have trashed him in the press conferences and the fight.” “I would have destroyed him in the ring and in trash talk, which would have put an end to all of the hysteria surrounding him.” I would have destroyed the aura that surrounded him.
He was wise to avoid starting a battle with me. After losing to Mayweather via technical knockout in the tenth round, McGregor left the boxing ring and hasn’t been back since. After the defeat, I went back to mixed martial arts (MMA).
Against Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor attempted to win back the UFC Lightweight title, but was defeated via a fourth-round neck crank submission at UFC 229 in October 2018.
After taking on Nurmagomedov, the 35-year-old McGregor has had more lows than highs in the Octagon. The Irishman has lost all three of his recent fights by stoppage, including one against Dustin Poirier that left him with a broken leg (see highlights from July 2021).
Malignaggi Issues A “Winner Take All” Boxing Challenge to McGregor
“Just because you can pull off a bunch of impressive high kicks from a Jean Claude Van Dam movie, doesn’t mean you’re a fighter; you need guts, you need a willingness to succeed, you need a willingness to enter the trenches, and if you don’t have that, you’re going to fade,” Malignaggi said.
“McGregor was lucky to achieve what he achieved in his career. Physically and talent wise, he’s up there.”
We’ve discussed Anthony Joshua (A.J.) losing his advantage, but McGregor is superior. He went on, “McGregor will quit on you, he does quit.” “AJ has cut back on his risk-taking, but at least he isn’t giving up. McGregor is a blatant giver. Although he had excellent marketing, he was not as good as he seemed to be. You have an issue because all he’s going to do is keep being a punching bag with the money he’s gained so far, which isn’t helpful. You will undoubtedly still be a punching bag in your 30s if you are one in your 20s.