There has been much debate within the combat sports world regarding the video of Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi sparring that was released by UFC President Dana White.
Ahead of his Aug. 26 mega fight with Floyd Mayweather, McGregor brought in Malignaggi as a sparring partner, and him and his team have claimed that he scored a knockdown on the former world champion, although Malignaggi claims it was a push.
Tom Taylor, a licensed California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) boxing referee and judge, spoke with MMAFighting.com on the matter, and said he ‘wouldn’t argue it either way’:
“I can’t tell you how I would have scored it live,” Taylor said. “I may have called it a knockdown, because the last thing to land was a short right hand to the side of Paulie’s head. That could still constitute a knockdown.
“It’s a judgment call and I think it could go either way. I wouldn’t argue it either way if a referee said it was a knockdown or no knockdown.”
While he admits that it looked like a knockdown, Taylor said that after watching it time and time again, he would’ve labeled it ‘no knockdown’:
“Live, it looked like a knockdown,” Taylor said. “The first time I looked at the video — that quick six, seven seconds — it looked like a knockdown. But when you slow it down, you can see how he has him held down behind his neck, behind his head. Paulie pulls up and [McGregor] lets go, [Malignaggi’s] momentum is taking him. And then there’s that short little right hand that lands.
“So it would definitely be a judgment call right then and there. But looking at this video, I would say no knockdown.”
In the end, regardless of whether it was truly a knockdown or not, Taylor admitted that he was ‘very impressed’ with McGregor’s performance:
“I’ll tell you, I was very impressed,” Taylor said. “He surprised me. He surprised me with some skills, he surprised me with how he put his punches together, his combinations. Absolutely. It was much better than I anticipated what I thought I might see, if that makes sense.”
What do you make of the situation?
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