Conor McGregor’s professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather is now less than three weeks away – and yet the vast majority of the pre-fight build-up has centred around the Irishman’s antipathy for a completely different boxer. McGregor’s feud with the former world champion and sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi has now rumbled on for over six months, with both men taking repeated snipes at each other in the press and arguing on social media.
After the public announcement that McGregor would be fighting Mayweather on August 26, a strange rumour began to do the rounds: Malignaggi had been invited into McGregor’s training camp to spar with him ahead of the big fight.
