Floyd Mayweather says Conor McGregor used illegal punches in sparring video
Mayweather believes McGregor threw rabbit punches at Paulie Malignaggi.
Most of you know by now that a short clip from Conor McGregor’s sparring session with Paulie Malignaggi, a retired boxer, is still going viral online. Floyd Mayweather, who will clash with McGregor in a boxing bout on Aug. 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, watched it and said McGregor threw illegal punches in that video.
Mayweather, 49-0, said the short clip was interesting, but McGregor, 29, threw a lot of illegal rabbit punches behind Malignaggi’s head. “A lot of shots [were] illegal. A lot of grappling, a lot of wrestling, [and] a lot of illegal shots,” Mayweather said.
Indeed, McGregor managed to knock Malignaggi to the canvas, but Mayweather said the knockdown only counts “once you get under the lights” — not in sparring sessions.
“We are sitting up here judging Paulie, a guy [who] has been retired and just commentating and traveling the world. And [he’s] not going to the gym at all.”
However, Mayweather, 40, believes Robert Byrd, the referee for the Aug. 26 bout, will be “fair on both sides” during this much-anticipated matchup. “I want the referee to be fair to both competitors, myself and Conor McGregor.” McGregor, the UFC’s Lightweight champion, will make his boxing debut against Mayweather.
The Nevada Athletic Commission named Byrd, a Hall of Fame boxing referee, to oversee this matchup. Byrd oversaw huge bouts like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev.
