Now that it’s over, now that Paulie Malignaggi is gone from Conor McGregor’s crash course in championship-level boxing, the brash Irishman will probably wave him off with a scowl or a glare or a middle finger.
Good riddance to the bum, you can imagine him saying in his brogue, as if it wasn’t a significant setback to his preparation for his Aug. 26 bout with Floyd Mayweather. It is. Sparring partners may come a dime a dozen, or perhaps even cheaper when you carry around a net worth of eight figures and counting, but few pack the ring smarts and the institutional knowledge of Malignaggi, a former WBA champion who was forced to get by on his wits rather than through overwhelming athletic gifts.