KEY POINTS

  • Malignaggi was not pleased that sparring photos that showed him in a bad light were released.
  • The former WBA welterweight champion was helping him prepare for Mayweather.

Former WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi has revealed that he will stop sparring with Conor McGregor after voicing his displeasure at recently leaked photos of their sessions.

Malignaggi was brought into the McGregor camp as a sparring partner to help him prepare for his upcoming boxing fight with Floyd Mayweather on 26 August.

The 36-year-old, who previously had very few kind words for the Irishman, later admitted that McGregor was not a weak puncher, praising the accuracy of his strikes.

With the duo having sparred 12 rounds as well, Malignaggi recently claimed that their sessions were getting violent as the big money fight approaches.

However, after a photo emerged of McGregor standing over a fallen Malignaggi, making it seem like he was knocked down, "Magic Man" had enough as he proceeded to go on a Twitter rant.

"Its not nice 2 paint a pic that isn't true, this was a pushdown in sparring, post the whole video rounds 1 through 12 UNEDITED," he wrote on Twitter.

"I came to help this camp out, not to be exploited, now your gonna get the truth though. Post FULL UNEDITED VIDEO FROM TUES night #Ethics

"I actually beat his a**, 24 hrsoff a flight 2 lol, which is why Im saying post the vid, I try not 2 be petty but seems it's late 4 that now."

Malignaggi also claimed that McGregor had his own personal photographers for the sparring sessions before later posting a statement that he would be leaving the training camp.

"I just wanted to clear the air," his statement read. "I am leaving the McGregor training camp today. I came with best intentions & intended to help out. Just the chance to be part of such a big event in this capacity excited me."

"I believe Conor & I have a mutual respect inside the ring, earned from each other with some good work over 2 sparring sessions. It's some of the stuff outside the ring and some ways some things were handled in training camp that I didn't agree with that made me come to this decision.

"It's not my place to dictate terms in a training camp that is not mine, but it's my place to decide if I want to be part of it. I will not give away anything tactical that I saw in 2 sparring sessions with Conor.

"For what it's worth, they have my word. The things that upset me though I will speak about in time. I wish team McGregor well in the rest of their preparations and look forward to being back in Vegas to work fight week on Showtime."

It is not the first time that the McGregor camp have released images and footage that put the 29-year-old in a good light.

Back in June, former IBO and IBF welterweight champion Chris van Heerden released unedited footage of his sparring session with McGregor after previous clips showed the lightweight champion getting the better of the South African.

Paulie Malignaggi
Malignaggi was sparring with McGregor to help him prepare for Mayweather Getty