THE HOOK

CMcGregoronsidering the promotional bang Conor received from Paulie Malignaggi, it wouldn’t surprise us if the UFC lightweight champion demands the Showtime boxing analyst be removed from the network’s pay-per-view telecast of his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. next Saturday night (Aug. 26) in Las Vegas.

McGregor, and UFC boss Dana White got much more than one sparring session out of Malignaggi. They got another hook to sell the fight. They should now take it to the max and confront Malignaggi, make him another target by demanding Showtime Sports boss Stephen Espinosa (whom McGregor nicknamed “The Weasel”) pull Paulie from the broadcast team. Create another controversy to sell the fight. Malignaggi has to take major responsibility for this mess. He made the mistake of agreeing to accept McGregor’s invitation to be one of his sparring partners. Malignaggi flew across the country to Vegas and on Aug. 3, just 24 hours after he landed, got in the ring with McGregor and went 12 rounds. White released video designed to bolster his claim that McGregor dominated the session. The video released by White appears to show Malignaggi being knocked down by a McGregor combination and taking a hard left to the face.

Malignaggi said he was pushed, not punched, to the canvas by McGregor. Malignaggi told Yahoo Sports McGregor had a “hidden agenda.” No kidding. Malignaggi was played by someone he should never have trusted. He only has himself to blame. And if he couldn’t see the potential pitfalls of a high-profile TV boxing analyst being a sparring partner for a fighter preparing for a mega-event, someone at Showtime — like Espinosa — should have told him not to go.

Also, it was not made clear if McGregor paid Malignaggi for his sparring duties. It stands to reason Malignaggi would want compensation in return for his work, right?

Malignaggi is now more a promotional vehicle than objective TV analyst for MayweatherMcGregor. McGregor could not pay Malignaggi enough for what he’s provided. Who knows, maybe Showtime likes the idea of Malignaggi being part of the story in the run-up to the fight.

How much bigger a part of the story will depend on how much hostility McGregor and White direct at him. During the promotional tour, someone involved in the hype told us McGregor was “running out of insults” to throw at Mayweather. That’s not the case with Malignaggi.

If the majority of PPV buys come from the UFC universe of fans, which we believe will be the case, then making Malignaggi a target of McGregor’s barbs, a villain, would be beneficial to PPV sales. Yet, this whole situation smells. That’s why Showtime should give Malignaggi next week, including fight night, off.

That won’t happen. For in an event as big as this, PPV sales take precedence over everything.

Including Paulie Malignaggi’s credibility.

Scratch Chris Christie off the list of candidates to replace Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa when he leaves WFAN (if he actually does) in December.

FAN sources said the suits searching for Francesa’s replacement have informed the New Jersey Governor his Gasbag services will not be needed.

So, until further notice, all other Mouths who talk stations in town and hear little from the Voices about what is happening in our country. Instead we heard intense debate over whether Terry Collins should have pinch-hit Jose Reyes for Dom Smith in the ninth inning of Subway Series Game 2. Or a screaming skull host (Don La Greca) banning a caller for asking a question he considered stupid.

This can be attributed to the “stick to sports” mentality that runs these stations. It also can be attributed to management, mostly white, of these sports talk outlets taking a more conservative approach to operating their shops.

Sadly there will be more “opportunities” for the Ostrich approach to change. Don’t hold your breath waiting. have “auditioned” for the gig are still in play.

One new name that recently surfaced as a possible candidate is Gregg (Opie) Hughes of “Opie and Anthony” fame. Until last month, when he was terminated, Hughes was working for SiriusXM. A radio source shot the Hughes rumor down saying he was not a candidate for Francesa’s job.