By Miguel Rivera
Former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi laughed at the mention of UFC superstar Conor McGregor pondering the idea of targeting Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs).
John Kavanagh, head trainer for McGregor, recently named Canelo as one of the many options for his fighter in 2018 - and said McGregor would be willing to face Canelo on Cinco De Mayo weekend in May.
McGregor made his professional boxing debut in August, putting in an better than expected effort against five division world champion Floyd Mayweather, who stopped the UFC star in the tenth round.
Malignaggi and McGregor have been feuding for several months - after a big fallout when the boxer was hired as a sparring partner to prepare for the Mayweather bout.
McGregor is now daring Malignaggi to fight him in the UFC.
Malignaggi, who was one of the presenters at the 55th annual convention of the World Boxing Council in Azerbaijan, said he would never fight in a mixed martial arts event.
"If he's a man, he has to box me, he talked a lot about our boxing. If it was as easy as he says, he needs to go in and box with me. He can't say it was easy, and then say he wants to fight but it can't be boxing," Malignaggi told ESPN Deportes.
Malignaggi then predicted that unlike in the bout with Mayweather, the UFC star would get demolished if he stepped in the ring with Canelo.
"McGregor likes to have his name out there, he's a person who likes people to talk, to have people write things about him, he's an egomaniac - but if he's talking about Canelo, he has to book a hospital room for two or three weeks, because when he loses it they will take him directly to that reserved room. This is not a regular fight, McGregor will get killed in that fight."
2023-10-19 17:10:55
