Showtime has been given all the sparring footage between UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi, but they refuse to use any of it to promote their upcoming fight.
Showtime will be airing the upcoming boxing match between McGregor and Floyd “Money” Mayweather on pay-per-view. They have been given sparring footage of McGregor and Malignaggi, but they don’t want to use it because it will make Malignaggi look bad.
According to UFC President Dana White, Showtime doesn’t want Malignaggi, who is an analyst for Showtime, to look bad during the Mayweather vs. McGregor broadcast.
“The last thing I want to do is get in a beef with Showtime, but we gave them a ton of the footage of the sparring, and they denied it because they didn’t want to make Paulie look bad,” White said on Tuesday. “They had a ton of the sparring footage, and they wanted to use zero (of it).”
While talking to the media, White also said McGregor got the better of Malignaggi during all 12 rounds of their sparring match.
Mayweather vs. McGregor will take place Aug. 26 in Las Vegas.
