As the day of the bout approaches, McGregor has apparently enlisted the help of Andre Berto as he prepares to face Mayweather.
Some reports say Berto is sparing with McGregor in preparation for the big day. Although Mystic Mac is the reigning UFC Lightweight champion, this upcoming bout against the man many believe to be the best defensive boxer of all time will be a baptism of fire.
Berto fought and lost to Mayweather back in September 2015, he knows how Money moves and thinks during a fight. This will be The Notorious’s debut in the boxing world, and he will be hoping to learn from Berto’s mistakes.
However, McGregor’s angry ex-sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi has made a conflicting claim to the contrary…
Welterweight champion and commentator Malignaggi has come forward, saying how Berto has decided against sparring with McGregor because of the sour end of Malignaggi and McGregor’s sparring relationship.
Malignaggi wasn’t happy with how McGregor was portraying their sparring on social media, putting himself in an overly positive light. He made the decision to stop supporting him as of last week.
Now he is saying Berto too has been put of by such tactics, making the following claim to Cagesiders:
I spoke to Andre Berto. Andre was supposed to go there and box on Saturday, and he changed his mind after seeing what happened with me.
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This is not the first time McGregor’s use of social media has riled up his fellow athletes. Former IBO Welterweight Champion Chris Van Heerden was furious after McGregor supposedly edited and posted footage of the pair sparring to make it look more favourable to McGregor.
According to Van Heerden, McGregor’s ‘sneaky tactics’ could well make things difficult for him:
Everybody already knew what happened with Van Heerden, now he’s doing the same with me too. When word goes around that somebody is like that, even in regular life, you start to alienate (people).
He’s going to have trouble getting any help in boxing, because the sneaky tactics, the sneaky qualities that he has now can no longer be looked at as a coincidence,
With the van Heerden situation, like maybe he didn’t know how the ethics work in boxing, maybe he still had to learn, or now that he has learned, everything will be okay.
I think the cat’s out of the bag with Conor McGregor in boxing, now that he’s tried this again, with sneaky tactics. You spar, and let me put in sneaky pictures, or make sneaky videos in van Heerden’s case and let me spin it.
Has The Notorious pissed off one person too many?
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.