A picture tells a thousand words

"They say I've got no hands"

https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/888334549008003073

Backstory

The feud between McGregor and Malignaggi goes back to December of last year. When Conor McGregor announced his intention to fight Floyd Mayweather, two time world champion Paulie 'The Magic Man' Malignaggi took it as an insult to boxing,

You really gonna disrespect the sport of boxing like that then I'll like to be the one to teach you a lesson.... I know you apologised about absolutely fucking nothing after your last fight, but after I'm done with you, I'm gonna knock the beard off of you homie, you're gonna be apologising for everything.

A few days later, after word got back, Conor responded in typical Conor fashion,

Who the fuck is that guy? I don't know who the fuck that is!... but I'll slap the nose off, if he ever mentions my name again.

The "beef" between McGregor and Malignaggi was on, and Paulie wasn't backing down,

"Who the fuck does he think he's going to scare in a boxing ring... I put the camera guy against him and it would be competitive in a boxing ring..."

Interim

While Conor went back and forth with Malignaggi in public, in private the ink was drying on the deal that setup the lucrative Maywether- McGregor fight. The feud between McGregor and Malignaggi had taken a backseat a much more lucrative encounter.

Resurrected beef

Fast forward 8 months and Paulie Malignaggi had been relegated to the role of a Showtime commentator on the press build-up to one of the biggest events in combat sport history. However in an unexpected twist, news emerged that trash-talking Malignaggi was being drafted into the McGregor camp as a sparing partner.

The nature of the arrangement was unclear, however it was clear that Conor hadn't forgotten his war of words with Malignaggi,

Paulie talked a load of shit. He's been bought in to spar and then he'll answer to what he's been saying. And we'll go from there after that. But we're gonna have a knock in the gym.

Malignaggi wasn't phased by McGregor looking to put a beating on him in sparring and responded in kind,

Either way, your intention for sparring is to be violent... By him talking like that, he's making himself look like a sparring partner. I'm gonna give him good work.

Aftermath

From the picture it looks like McGregor gave Malignaggi at least as good as he got. Even Paulie admits,

Eight rounds, good work. I can’t disclose too much but McGregor is no dummy... There’s a method to his madness. He has an idea of what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, he’s not clueless. He’s not your conventional boxer by any means but he’s capable and his power is good. Whether that can be effective is up to him, but he’s no dummy!

[Michael Woods, nyfights.com]

So from ultra-sceptic, Malignaggi tune has changed radically now he's been in the ring with McGregor. I won't be running to the bookie to put bet on however Conor has clearly earned some respect from The Magic Man after their first spar.

Let's not get it confused. Malignaggi is no Mayweather. The now retired Malignaggi is not even Malignaggi of a few years ago, let alone prime Malignaggi. However slowly but surely Conor is chipping away at the perception that he is way out of his depth in this Mayweather fight. 8 months ago Malignaggi had stated that a May-Mac fight would be like 'taking someone random out of the stands and putting in with Floyd.' Now 'there's method to [Conor]'s madness.'

That's the McGregor effect.

His fighting career is littered with examples of where he has defied conventional wisdom to do the improbable. Will the Mayweather fight be the crowning glory of McGregor defying nay-sayers?

All will be revealed on August 26th.

Whatever the reality of McGregor's abilities in a boxing ring. This kind of publicity, pictures of McGregor seemingly ridiculing former boxing world champions in sparring, will not do ticket sales any harm at all!

And that, as always, is the bottom line!