Sparring Partner Downplays Conor McGregor’s Knockout Power

Conor McGregor may not hit as hard as everyone thinks.

The UFC lightweight champion is set to make his professional boxing debut against, arguably, the greatest to have ever done it in undefeated 49-0 Floyd Mayweather Jr. The pair are set to go 12 rounds on Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) next month (Sat. August 26, 2017). After a four stop World Tour to promote the bout in cities such as L.A., Toronto, Brooklyn, and London, the Irishman and “Money” can now focus on their physical preparations for the bout.

McGregor decided to bring on former IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi as one of his sparring partners. Malignaggi served as an analyst for Showtime during the pre and post shows for a couple of the press conferences on the Mayweather vs. McGregor World Tour.

The Irishman even posted a picture on social media recently showing he and Malignaggi sparring, in which McGregor holds his hands behind his back (similar to the way he did against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205) to taunt the former junior welterweight champ. Malignaggi recently joined The Jim Rome Show yesterday (Wed. July 26, 2017) to talk about his time trinaing alongside the UFC mega-star.

One hot topic of discussion was McGregor’s storied knockout power, which has been the down fall of 18 out of the 21 opponents McGregor has defeated. While Malignaggi admits his power is above average, he wouldn’t go as far as saying McGregor has ”Oh my God’ power’: (quotes via MMA Mania):

“It’s definitely above average. I wouldn’t say it’s ‘Oh my God’ power,” Malignaggi said. “Now, ‘Oh my God’ power is very rare. There’s above average power, so if he lands a good shot on you, I mean granted, with small fight gloves he will hurt you, but it’s not ‘Oh my God’ power where every time he touches you you’re like my goodness, this is very uncomfortable. It’s not that kind of power, but it’s good enough.”