Pundit Arena Because Sport Is Everything
Showtime boxing analyst and former two-weight boxing titlist Paulie Malignaggi claimed a few weeks back that Conor McGregor “whimpers like a girl” when he is hit to the body.
Malignaggi was brought into the McGregor camp as a sparring partner ahead of the Irishman’s professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but departed the fold under acrimonious circumstances, the details of which certainly don’t need to be repeated again here, after engaging in just two sparring sessions. After he left, Malignaggi opened up to the media about his time in the ring with McGregor, with one of his many claims being that the UFC lightweight champion doesn’t react well to body shots.
Yea but this coming week I'll actually start to discuss a bit what happened Tuesday, he whimpers like a girl when he gets ripped to body lol https://t.co/lfcuILlubJ
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) August 6, 2017
The Italian-American expanded upon this further during an early-August appearance on The MMA Hour.
“From about six rounds on, he became very hittable,” Malignaggi said of his second session with McGregor. “So much more hittable that I was putting more weight on my shots and sitting down more on my shots, and of course, the body shots started to affect him more and more.
“Of course, I’m talking the whole time, because the first time he made sure to talk the whole time. Now I’m talking more and more and I’m letting him know, ‘you can’t hang, these body shots feel good, right?’
“In MMA the body shots aren’t the same as in boxing in that there is consistency to body shots in boxing. There is a debilitating breakdown from the body shots in boxing. Little by little you feel the air come out of you with fatigue.”
“Fatigue is always hard because you don’t have enough snap in your shots any more. You can’t throw as often as you want to.”
“[McGregor] stopped talking because he wanted to save as much energy as he could,” Malignaggi added. “He stopped throwing as many punches.”
On Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, McGregor began to tire and slow down quite noticeably in the middle rounds of his bout with Mayweather. By the ninth, he looked exhausted, and Mayweather marauded forward in a manner we are not used to seeing from the defensively minded boxing great, tagging McGregor at will. The Dubliner was lucky to survive the round on shaky legs and a seemingly empty gas tank but he couldn’t make it through the stanza that followed, with referee Robert Byrd calling a halt to the action after a series of shots from Mayweather that landed without any rebuttal from McGregor.
On Tuesday, via Twitter, Malignaggi suggested that Mayweather’s body attack had played a part in McGregor’s demise.
“Exactly,” wrote the supposedly retired boxer in response to a fans suggestion that Mayweather had hastened McGregor’s fatigue with shots to the midsection. “Body punches aren’t really used in MMA though, so fans can’t grasp the concept of what those do to a fighter,” Malignaggi added, reiterating the point he previously made on The MMA Hour. “They cause fatigue.”
Exactly, body punches aren't really used in MMA though so those fans can't grasp concept of what those do to a fighter, they cause fatigue. https://t.co/USDTOgctoj
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) August 30, 2017
This caused a backlash from the MMA community, forcing Malignaggi to go on the counterattack.
Body shots are definitely used a lot in mma… there's nothing in boxing that isn't used in mma ??? https://t.co/EUpdBL3YW3
— Esma (@esmamosac) August 30, 2017
Yea, because Conor was taking body shots so well in the gym and in the fight. I guess it's from being used to taking them in MMA fights lol https://t.co/Kx18KT8pDL
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) August 30, 2017
It's statements like these that show true ignorance about MMA. Ask @BasRuttenMMA about shots to the liver sometime. https://t.co/lCEyIcKyaU
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) August 30, 2017
Liver shots? Im talkin bout a consistent body attack that keeps u in the fight but fatigues not liver shot u mutt. Liver shots end fights. https://t.co/h5Y4rcxd9d
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) August 30, 2017
That last Malignaggi tweet apparently drew the ire of UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, who suddenly came bounding into the fray.
“Paulina please shut your mouth,” wrote Holloway, expressing the wishes of many. “I’ll show you something bout body work.”
Paulina please shut your mouth. I'll show you something bout body work. https://t.co/JQzKMNFYG0
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) August 30, 2017
Malignaggi is in hot pursuit of a fight with McGregor at the moment. Though he has given the SBG fighter some praise for his performance against Mayweather, Malignaggi has also accused McGregor of quitting in the tenth round – a transparent attempt to goad the UFC star into action. Malignaggi has even gone as far as to propose a ‘winner takes all’ scenario to Mcgregor.
“I’m willing to risk fighting him for free just to punch him in the mouth again and again and again. That’s how confident I am they can’t beat me,” Malignaggi told Ariel Helwani.
Right now, it looks as though McGregor’s next fight is more likely to take place in the octagon than the boxing ring and Malignaggi has no interest in stepping into that environment. Still, a McGregor – Malignaggi boxing match remains a possibility for the future, as there certainly seems to be fan interest. But if it doesn’t work out for Paulie, and he can’t lure McGregor back into pugilism, Max Holloway might be willing to take up the challenge.
