Malignaggi on sparring with McGregor: 'There's a method to his madness'
Former IBF and WBA boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi got an up close and personal look at Conor McGregor's progression in the squared circle Thursday, as the two sparred together in preparation for the Irishman's superfight with Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor posted a photo of the two in the ring Friday, with "Notorious" holding his hands behind his back. And while Malignaggi - who retired in March - unsurprisingly didn't divulge too many details about his session with McGregor, he said the UFC champ's unusual style isn't without its merits.
"To say a mixed martial artist is coming into boxing and wouldn't be awkward is an understatement," Malignaggi said, according to ESPN's Brett Okamoto. "He's going to have his own style and set of things he does. He's got a gameplan. It's not what people think.
"I'll put it like this: He knows what he wants to do and he has a method of how he wants to get there. The mechanism of how he gets there may look, to the naked eye - 'hmm, I don't know about this.' But there's a method to his madness. He's a thinker."
Malignaggi said he will continue to work with McGregor for the next five weeks. He was apparently impressed by McGregor's signature weapon, his lethal left, but admitted he'll need more than that in his arsenal to take down a seasoned vet like Mayweather.
"He's got some pop in the left hand, I can't take that away from him," Malignaggi said. "In boxing, especially against a guy like Floyd Mayweather, you need to devise a few more weapons, and I think that's what Conor is working on. I think you coming into this situation already knowing Conor has a big left hand, so you're probably going to prepare for that left hand.
"Obviously, Conor is working on other things besides the left hand, so there can be that surprise element to it ... There's going to be other things he needs to make you worry about, and that's what's being worked on in camp. He's effective at what he's doing."
While Malignaggi said McGregor is facing steep odds, he - like many backing the Irishman - believes he's capable of a magic moment or two to defy his doubters.
"I think (McGregor) is definitively an underdog, but he has a method to what he's doing and he has a thinking process behind it," Malignaggi said. "This is a fight of moments and I think he can give himself certain moments.
"If those moments turn into bigger moments, that's not up to me. That's up to Conor McGregor."