The Paulie Malignaggi saga just added another twist with a video from FightHype of Paulie and Floyd Mayweather implying Malignaggi was a spy sent into Conor McGregor’s camp. Malignaggi has been on a tear since leaving McGregor’s team after unflattering photos of sparring were released. Following that it’s been non-stop media interviews about the snub, and Paulie even got into Conor’s face during ‘Grand Arrival’ ceremonies on Tuesday.
“This my friend Paulie,” Mayweather said during the latest video. “My friend, Paulie has always been my friend. I even told my friend, my friend called me and said ‘Floyd, do you want me to go to camp?’ I said ‘Absolutely!’ … Me and Paulie are gonna stay at the house and talk about strategy, we gonna talk about everything! Don’t you worry. Paulie, thank you for going over there when I asked you to!”
We’re not sure about McGregor, but the video is bound to upset McGregor’s manager Audie Attar who has been accusing Malignaggi of breaking his confidentiality agreement. Malignaggi has claimed since he never got paid, he’s not bound to any signed terms. That doesn’t sound exactly right legally to us, but there’s no lawsuit looming over the situation … yet.
Malignaggi is also putting his commentary job with Showtime on the line. Showtime VP of Sports Stephen Espinoza told media they’d pull Paulie if his objectivity became a question or “even if objectivity is not in question, behavior becomes an issue.” It seems to us his objectivity has been out of wonk since leaving McGregor’s camp. Now he’s engaged in full blown head games trying to throw McGregor off in the days leading up to their fight. It certainly bolsters Conor McGregor’s claim that Showtime isn’t an impartial partner if they let this slide and keep Malignaggi on the payroll for Saturday’s fight.
