Boxing referee Joe Cortez has revealed what happened during a sparring session between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi.
He claims that he ordered the two to calm down before the session became too aggressive last week.
McGregor called in Cortez to help him get used to the rules of boxing before the big bout with Mayweather in a couple of weeks.
Cortez said that he was forced to intervene when tensions rose between the former champ Malignaggi and Conor ‘Notorious’ McGregor.
He told RUSH 93:
It was the real thing, I had to stop the action, say, ‘You guys are a little out of control here, you’ve got to stop this’.
You know, they got a little rough. They were both roughing each other up and I had to stop the action like it was a regular fight.
They were holding too much – they were trying to punch each other.
So I had to call, ‘Time, alright guys you’ve got to stop this right now, I want a good, clean, strong – give me a sportsman-like conduct you understand?’
It seems that McGregor is really amping up for this one, the hype train has well and truly left the station.
