Paulie Malignaggi On WFAN: Conor McGregor's Team Is 'Twisting And Turning Things Around Like It's The National Enquirer'

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Conor McGregor's team is "sneaky" and "lowlife," the fighter's former sparring partner said Tuesday.

Former welterweight and junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi was a guest on WFAN on Tuesday and blasted the McGregor camp for releasing what he called a misleading photo from their sparring session last week.

you've got to respect it. He's in shape. He's put his best forward to do the best he can here.

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The picture showed Malignaggi down on the mat with McGregor still standing. McGregor, the UFC lightweight champion, is training to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas.

Malignaggi said he wasn't knocked down, but pushed down. He has since quit being McGregor's sparring partner.

"We were working inside a little bit, and he kind of shoved off," the retired Brooklyn boxer told Brian Custer and Marc Malusis. "I tripped over his feet. It was kind of like a little half push, half slip."

"It's just a very sneaky, lowlife team," he added. "I'm not about that kind of stuff. I'm about getting in there, working, helping out, whatever it is. ... But once you try to do stuff at my expense, especially when you're twisting and turning things around like it's the National Enquirer, I get a bit turned off by it. I'm a little too old for the games."

Malignaggi noted that referee Joe Cortez  spoke to the media following the first sparring session but not after the controversial second one.

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"I think common sense will tell you they gagged him after the second sparring," Malignaggi said. "And why do you think they gagged him? They probably didn't want him to come out and say, 'Nah, there was no knockdown.' This is a whole big controversy about nothing really. Conor caught a beating from me on Tuesday, and he didn't like it, and then he did so much as to eventually piss me off and make me go home."

Custer asked Malignaggi the question on everyone's minds: Can McGregor box?

"He can fight," Malignaggi said. "As far as boxing, he's got his own style. It can be a bit deceiving at time. He's got above-average power, so

"Now is it going to work or not? I mean, I don't know."

To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.