SPAR WARS
Conor McGregor was smart not to fight me… I would have destroyed him and he’s a QUITTER, says bitter sparring rival
One infamous sparring session sparked a bitter feud between the two
PAULIE MALIGNAGGI has issued another stinging attack on bitter sparring rival Conor McGregor.
The former boxing world champion entered McGregor's training camp in 2017 before his crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather.
2
They sparred twice in the UFC's Las Vegas base, over eight and then 12 rounds.
And it was the second of session that is remembered infamously, as images and footage of the spar leaked.
It included a disputed knockdown of Malignaggi, which caused the American to storm out the camp.
The two have continued to feud ever since and now Malignaggi has claimed McGregor was wise not to accept a grudge match with him.
READ MORE ON MCGREGOR
He told Action Network: "I'm a better trash talker than McGregor, that's one of the reasons he did not fight me. I would have trashed him in the press conferences and the fight.
"It would have ended all of the hysteria around him because I would have destroyed him in the trash talking and in the ring.
"I would have ruined the whole aura around him. He was smart not to pull the trigger on a fight with me."
Malignaggi, 43, always insisted he was pushed to the ground by McGregor, who went on to lose in ten rounds to Mayweather.
Most read in Boxing
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
It has kept the feud alive but a boxing bout slipped away with McGregor remaining in the UFC octagon.
Although Malignaggi said the 35-year-old is now a "punching bag" and compared his career to heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua.
He said: "McGregor was lucky to achieve what he achieved in his career, physically and talent wise he's up there, but just because you can do a bunch of 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.
‘We've talked about AJ losing that edge, but McGregor is on a different level. McGregor will quit on you, he does quit.
"AJ does not take as many risks anymore but at least he's not quitting. McGregor is an outright quitter.
"He is a fighter that was not as good as advertised, there was great marketing behind him.
"And the money he's made now isn't helping, so you've got a problem - all he's going to do is continue to be a punching bag.
"If you're a punching bag in your twenties, you'll definitely be a punching bag in your thirties.”
2