Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. Fight Preview: Paulie Malignaggi Quits McGregor's Camp After Photos of Sparring Sessions Leaked
Former two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi should have known better when he signed up to help prepare Conor McGregor for his bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada, on Aug. 26.
The sessions may be closed to the public, but he should have realized that cameras are going to be in the gym when they spar. And chances are, some of the photos taken during the sessions are going to be used to build up McGregor's reputation in the boxing ring.
That's exactly what happened.
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A few days ago, McGregor's camp decided to post two photos from the sparring session and Malignaggi wasn't happy because both photos showed him in unfavorable positions.
McGregor appears to have knocked Malignaggi down to the canvas in one photo, but the retired boxer said it was actually a "push down." Well, the retired boxer seems to have had enough because he has decided to part ways with McGregor's camp.
Malignaggi told ESPN the whole situation was a "fiasco" and a "circus," but he wasn't going to give away McGregor's tactics to Mayweather. He also said that he wants the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Performance Institute to release the unedited video of their sparring session.
"I do want that sparring video released. The UFC's PI definitely has that video. I understand it can't come out now, but Conor, if you have any balls, release what really happened," he added.
Well, McGregor's camp actually did the same thing with Chris van Heerden last year. The South African boxer wasn't as popular as Malignaggi, but he wasn't happy either when an edited footage of his sparring session with McGregor was released. The video made him look bad and he didn't appreciate it.
Interestingly, van Heerden is more than willing to come back and spar with McGregor. As long as they pay him, of course.
