Conor McGregor fires shots at old foe Paulie Malignaggi ahead of potential altercation at boxing event
Conor McGregor took jabs at Paulie Malignaggi in a now-deleted tweet before their potential encounter.
Before his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather in 2017, 'The Notorious' sparred with Malignaggi and then shared footage that didn't cast the former WBA welterweight champion in a positive light.
Malignaggi assisted McGregor in preparing for his crossover boxing match, but their relationship took a bitter turn when videos of their sparring sessions, including one where Malignaggi appeared to be knocked down by McGregor, were released by the Irishman's team.
Despite the footage, 'Magic Man' has consistently maintained that he won the spar and wasn't actually knocked down by the former UFC two-division champion. This incident has fueled ongoing animosity between them, which continues to persist even six years later.
Paulie Malignaggi is slated to serve as a commentator for the Liam Smith vs. Chris Eubank Jr. rematch tonight at the AO Arena in Manchester. Conor McGregor recently posted a tweet (now deleted) showing a screenshot of Malignaggi standing beside an advertisement displaying the logo of McGregor's beverage company, Forged Irish Stout. He captioned:
"Goes down lovely! @ForgedStout."
Check out the post below:
With Conor McGregor's company sponsoring the Smith vs. Eubank Jr. rematch, it's possible that he will also be present at the event.
When Paulie Malignaggi questioned Conor McGregor's boxing skills
Paulie Malignaggi has further fueled his feud with Conor McGregor by critiquing McGregor's boxing skills and suggesting that McGregor would be defeated by influencer boxers.
During an interview with Lord Ping in July, Malignaggi asserted that YouTuber AnEsonGib, who suffered a knockout loss to Jake Paul in 2020, could beat 'The Notorious' in a potential boxing match:
"McGregor's boxing skills are so brutal that I think even a YouTube boxer like AnEsonGib would beat McGregor in a boxing ring. I worked with Gib for his fight last year against Austin McBroom and Gib brings a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. At this point, I think he'd even beat up McGregor in a boxing ring.” [h/t Lord Ping]