There may be a lot more to the tactics and preparations of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor than meets the eye
That is according to the sparring partner and consultant of the Dubliner, former two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi.
While the boxing world remains staunchly committed to the idea of seeing Floyd Mayweather exit the ring with a perfect 50-0 record on Aug. 26, Malignaggi believes that the Irishman’s chances of shocking the world are not as remote as some would like to believe.
Malignaggi told in an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that those assuming McGregor is simply motivated by the money involved in the fight are far from right:
“He’s got a game plan behind it,” Malignaggi said. “It’s not what people think. There’s a game plan behind what he’s doing. There’s a method to Conor’s madness.”
The New York-native spoke about McGregor’s attitude to his preparations. While “The Notorious” may have been “cordial”, there was a lot of “trash talk” between the two while sharing the ring:
“In a championship camp, the sparring is intense, so I didn’t expect to go in there and it be a picnic,” Malignaggi said. “He’s [Conor McGregor] a competitor, I’m a competitor. We went in there and there was a lot of trash talking right away. There was a lot of fighting right away. In the end, you look back on it was kind of fun. I don’t have everybody that can match my trash talking, but Conor definitely can. So it was making it a lot of fun.”
As for what Malignaggi feels Conor McGregor can bring into the ring? Well, the former WBO welterweight champion is not ‘giving too much away’:
“Without giving away too much, he’s effective at what he’s doing,” Malignaggi said of McGregor said. “There’s a method behind the madness. He and his team are working at it. I’m sure it’ll be entertaining and fun.”
