Paulie Malignaggi dislikes portrayal in training with Conor McGregor

Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi took to Twitter today to express his distaste for the way he has been portrayed in pictures and videos of sparring sessions with Conor McGregor.

In the build-up to his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in three weeks’ time, Conor McGregor has flooded his social media accounts with pictures of some methods of preparation.

The majority of these, however, have been of his sparring matches with the several partners he has brought to his camp over time. One of his most notable sparring partners is former two-division boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi, who has been a part of the McGregor camp for a few weeks now.

In a few of the pictures McGregor posts, Malignaggi always appears to be on the brutal end of a beat down from the boxing novice. But despite what the sparring matches may look like on social media, it is not the entire truth.

According to Malignaggi, anyway.

Malignaggi took to Twitter late Thursday evening after seeing some photos of himself on his back inside the ring with McGregor. From the photos alone, one would assume that McGregor had just knocked Malignaggi down and he is attempting to get up from the canvas.

The former boxing champion didn’t like the way the photo appeared because of the aforementioned assumption and quickly defended himself on social media.

During an interview with ESPN’S Brett Okamoto, Malignaggi made it clear how “back and forth” the sparring between he and McGregor had been.

“There was a pushdown yesterday. Conor on the inside, he can get a little rough. He shoved me down, you know, but no knockdowns. Obviously, 12 rounds, you’re gonna see there’s a mark on my face. Very, very hard work for both of us,” said Malignaggi. “I was starting to get in a groove in the middle rounds, starting to land some good shots. Conor really came on strong in the end. It was back and forth.”

After explaining this pushdown, Malignaggi requested that McGregor and his team post the full unedited versions of their sparring matches so that fans will see the true story as opposed to the one they are selling.

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Unfortunately for Malignaggi, the likelihood of these unedited photos and videos ever seeing the light of day is slim. McGregor is attempting to become the first man to defeat Mayweather in boxing, so showcasing his skills during these sparring sessions are a priority for he and his team.

No one wants to see McGregor be tested during his training camp because it will give many people, especially the Mayweather crew, the fuel they need to drench themselves in the utmost conceit before the fight occurs.

While Malignaggi may have a problem with the way he has been portrayed during this training camp, he has nothing but decent things to say about the UFC lightweight champion, so it is interesting to see this new development in the way things are shaping up for Aug. 26.