Jeff Mayweather gives opinion on McGregor-Malignaggi sparring footage

While many thought Conor McGregor looked great against Paulie Malignaggi in sparring, Jeff Mayweather was left unimpressed.

Conor McGregor’s sparring footage has sparked an intense debate in the combat sports world recently on whether he has a chance in becoming the first man to defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr. in boxing.

For days now, McGregor’s former sparring partner, Paulie Malignaggi, insisted that he was pushed rather than knocked down during a few rounds against the UFC champion. However, UFC President Dana White called Malignaggi’s bluff and released some clips of the sparring session that had everyone clowning the former boxing champion and praising McGregor.

One person who couldn’t praise McGregor, though, was none other than Jeff Mayweather, the uncle and former trainer of Mayweather Jr.

Recently, Mayweather spoke with Fight Hub TV about the now infamous sparring footage and explained why its release did more harm than help to the integrity of McGregor’s training.

“Do you see that? You see him land one punch but do you see all the other bulls–t that goes with it,” said Mayweather. “Don’t get me wrong, that much is true, but you’ve got to realize, Paulie didn’t come back to boxing to box again. He didn’t do what Floyd did. Plus, he’s not Floyd, so watching that means nothing because no matter what he did to Paulie, he’s not gonna do to Floyd.”

Speaking on if the knockdown was legitimate, Mayweather said that it appears to be both a knockdown and a push.

“It looks like it was a knockdown and it was a push. It was the punch and then a little push at the end. It was a little push at the end but still, even if it wasn’t a push, still, this guy [Malignaggi] right here, he’s not Floyd Mayweather so it doesn’t matter,” said Mayweather.

Despite the video clips being only a few seconds long, Mayweather has apparently seen enough to know that whatever McGregor has planned for the match will not be enough to defeat Mayweather Jr.

“Realistically, by showing that much of what Conor’s doing, they actually expose what he’s really capable of,” said Mayweather. “It’s worse because he’s fighting a Paulie that’s out of shape.”

In a second interview with Fight Hub TV, Mayweather went even further in his assessment of the sparring clips and said that regardless of the knockdown, everything else McGregor was doing was less than impressive.

“The most important thing was the part they thought they were showing was the fact that he got knocked down,” said Mayweather. “But even by adding that clip, it actually looked worse, because everything else that happened in between that looked like trash.”

Of course, people could argue that Mayweather’s words should be taken lightly considering the obvious bias behind them. But, before completely disregarding them, they are worth listening to due to his extensive knowledge and experience within the sport.

As someone who has competed in boxing and trained others including Mayweather Jr., Mayweather could easily see potential threats in a fighter’s game that can be learned from and adapted to.

Next: 30 little-known facts about Conor McGregor

In a little less than two weeks, we will finally see if McGregor really does pose a threat to the undefeated record of Mayweather Jr. But for Mayweather, he still doesn’t think McGregor gets the job done.

McGregor faces Mayweather Jr. on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, Nev. at the T-Mobile Arena.