By Allan Fox: Paulie Malignaggi says he’s interested in facing the beaten former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor in a boxing match as long as the fight doesn’t take place in Ireland and if he agrees to it being winner takes all.
McGregor lost last Saturday night in tapping out in the 4th round against UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor was subsequently attacked by Nurmagomedov’s team after the fight, as well as a person from the audience, who hopped the fence and slugged him twice in the face with bare knuckles.
McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh says Conor is interested in fighting either Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Malignaggi in a boxing match. Since it’s highly unlikely that Mayweather is going to return to the ring for a rematch with McGregor, that leaves the 38-year-old Malignaggi as his best option. McGregor would probably make more money fighting a relevant boxer like Keith Thurman, who wants to fight him.
McGregor and Malignaggi have history with one another from last year when Paulie worked briefly as a sparring partner for him to get ready for his August 2017 mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, after photos leaked of the sparring between McGregor and Malignaggi, Paulie became furious and quit working with the UFC star. McGregor supposedly had worked Malignaggi over during the sparring. Malignaggi denies this, but since there was no video of the training released, it’s unclear what happened. From there, the two have been trading trash talk off and on. Malignaggi obviously would like nothing better than to get McGregor inside the boxing ring to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget.
“I’d do the fight if it’s not in Ireland, and if it’s winners takes all,” Malignaggi said to Fighthype about a boxing match against former UFC champion Conor McGregor. “If it’s winners takes all, it can’t be in Ireland. If it goes the distance, they rob you. It has to be winners takes all because someone fights for free that night,” Malignaggi said.
The chances of McGregor agreeing to a winners take all fight against Malignaggi are slim and none. McGregor isn’t going to agree to a crazy fight like that, even if it were possible. Malignaggi (36-8, 7 KOs) is a former two division world champion, and he only recently retired from boxing in 2017. It’s not as if Malignaggi has been out of the ring for five to ten years.
“If I’m shape, he gets stopped,” Malignaggi said. “If it does go the distance, I’m getting robbed, and that’s why it can’t be in Ireland. I’m not going to do that. If he’s so good, I’ll fight for free. He and his fans are so confident after what he did to me,” Malignaggi said.
There’s a good chance that Malignaggi knocks McGregor out if he fights at a fast pace. McGregor gassed out against Mayweather last year in getting stopped in the 10th round. Mayweather was fighting at a glacial pace and McGregor still gassed out.
