Over the past few days, boxing and MMA fans have been “treated” to a barrage of arguments and counter-arguments centring around the emergence of an image showing Paulie Malignaggi on the canvas.
Supposedly, the photo was taken after a knock down from Conor McGregor during a sparring session between the two.
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Malignaggi, however, was quick to shoot down any suggestions of that type, claiming that he’d been pushed rather than punched to the floor.
Predictably, a social media storm erupted with various strands of fanboydom putting forward the case for their preferred fighter.
The American boxer maintained throughout that he hadn’t been fairly depicted, stating that the picture’s release was calculated to enhance McGregor’s image in the buildup to the May-Mac showdown.
He called for video footage of the session to be released and, eventually, UFC supremo Dana White obliged.
You be the judge of what really happened:
Here is the video everyone wanted to see of Conor vs Paulie Malignaggi former IBF and WBA World Champion @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/GfFP3SKsye
— danawhite (@danawhite) August 12, 2017
Unsurprisingly, the debate still rages. But whatever the truth of the matter, it seems clear from the video that McGregor will be no pushover (pun intended) when he comes up against Floyd in two weeks’ time.
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