Paulie Malignaggi, a former two-division boxing world champion, is backing Jake Paul to knock out Conor McGregor in a potential boxing match between the two combat sports stars.
Currently, Conor McGregor is gearing up for a return to the Octagon later this year as he is expected to square off with high-octane lightweight ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler. Before meeting inside the cage, McGregor and Chandler will first square off as opposing coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, scheduled to begin airing on May 30.
Meanwhile, social media sensation Jake Paul is prepping for a high-stakes clash with ex-UFC star Nate Diaz. The two men will strap on the 10-ounce gloves for a showdown in the squared circle on August 5. Diaz, a 15-year veteran of the UFC, will make his professional boxing debut while ‘The Problem Child’ attempts to bounce back from a closely-contested defeat at the hands of Tommy Fury.
In the build-up to his fight with the Stockton Samurai, Jake Paul has taken aim at Conor McGregor, calling for a matchup between the two inside the boxing ring. While the chances of that fight happening are particularly slim, it hasn’t stopped the combat sports world from levying their thoughts on who would come out on top. Enter Paulie Malignaggi, a former IBF junior welterweight and WBA welterweight champion. Malignaggi famously sparred 12-rounds with McGregor ahead of the Irishman’s 2017 bout with Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. Based on that experience, Malignaggi believes Jake Paul would effectively mop the floor with the former two-division UFC champion.
“I think Jake Paul would knock Conor out,” Malignaggi told Betway in a recent interview. “Conor is too susceptible to those loopy shots and Jake hits hard enough that only needs to hit you with one or two of them. I think Conor has decent sharp shots but I don’t think Conor has the discipline to stay with those little sharp shots for a certain amount of rounds. I think he would fall apart because he doesn’t have a lot of heart.
“Conor has no balls. If you take Conor a few rounds he has this very big discomfort and mistakes naturally create themselves. You don’t even have to create them anymore. I think he would do okay for a couple of rounds, but if you didn’t get Jake out in a couple of rounds, I think Jake would knock him out, and he would probably knock him out with a big shot.”
Conor McGregor called Jake Paul a donkey in his Paul-Diaz prediction 😅
(via @MatchroomBoxing) pic.twitter.com/TOvlFU1Dw4
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 19, 2023
Paulie Malignaggi Believes Conor McGregor Flourishes in the Opening Rounds but Breaks Down Quickly
Paulie Malignaggi believes Conor McGregor would likely look good in the early going, but as they approach the later rounds, the Irishman would begin to break down, leaving him open for Paul to land one of his patented hooks.
“Conor’s a frontrunner, a guy who’s good early on. But as a fight wears on he breaks down. He doesn’t have the character to withstand a long fight. Typically frontrunners have no heart. So I think Jake would have a disadvantage early because I think Conor’s sharper with his one-two.
“But I think as the fight wears on Jake would be pressuring him and using his natural weight and size over him, I think he would eventually fall apart, make the mistakes, and those defensive lapses would hurt him. Jake’s pretty strong, and Jake’s boxing is, you know it’s not terrible. It’s decent, so I think it would come into play.”
Malignaggi also touched on Jake Paul’s summertime scrap with Nate Diaz, suggesting that The Ultimate Fighter alumnus will be the toughest stand-up fighter that ‘The Problem Child’ has ever fought.
“Nate is the best stand-up fighter from MMA that Jake’s fought,” Malignaggi added. “The other guys had no stand-up fighting ability at all, but I do think that Nate is sort of a shot guy. I don’t know how much Nate has left. I think he’s going to have a lot of heart and character but he seems kind of shot to me. The key to the fight is how much does Nate have left. How shot or not shot is Nate?”
Transcription by Mirror Sports
