Former heavyweight king Mike Tyson caused something of a stir when he said, after beating up Tyrell Biggs almost 30 years ago, how his hated (at the time) rival “made woman-type gestures when I hit him to the body.” Well, Paulie Malignaggi, via twitter, has fired similar shots at MMA star/soon to become a boxer, Conor McGregor.
Fans may be aware of how the former two-weight ruler agreed to help McGregor in his preparations for his August 26 showdown with Floyd Mayweather. The two sparred, apparently hard, and initially Malignaggi had good things to say about McGregor, commenting on his work ethic and such like. But Paulie was stung when McGregor, or his team anyway, released a photo apparently showing Malignaggi being put on the floor from a McGregor punch during sparring.
Malignaggi quit camp in anger, having been betrayed. Paulie merely slipped to the canvas, he claims, and McGregor used the picture to his advantage; in a less than ethical manner. Now, Malignaggi has vowed to “give the story straight about stuff” in the coming days.
Already, though, “The Magic Man” has revealed quite a bit about McGregor.
“This coming week I’ll actually start to discuss a bit what happened Tuesday. He whimpers like a girl when he gets ripped to the body – lol,” Malignaggi wrote on social media. “I won’t speak tactics of his, that I wouldn’t do, I still have some ethics, I’m not Conor, but def will give the story straight about stuff.”
Now, as boxing fans know, Malignaggi, though tremendously skilled and of course having an absolute ton more boxing experience than MMA’s McGregor (the phrase, ‘he’s forgotten more about boxing than he’ll ever know’ springs to mind) was never a puncher. If Paulie did hurt McGregor to the body as badly as his tweet clearly makes out, the trash-talking Irishman appears to be heading towards clear and present danger against Mayweather; a fighter who, though no banger, hits hard enough and accurately enough to hurt a man.
Floyd is sure to read what McGregor has said and target the body of McGregor when fight time comes. Might “Money” score a rare KO later this month? No doubt, after the way he’s been treated, Malignaggi will be hoping so.