Boxing ref Joe Cortez: Conor McGregor-Paulie Malignaggi sparring session got 'out of control'

If you’ve been paying attention to Conor McGregor’s Instagram as he prepares for his upcoming superfight with Floyd Mayweather, you might’ve noticed veteran referee Joe Cortez present in the gym.

Here he is on the left in a post from Saturday.

Sparring today. It's another day for me.

A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on Jul 29, 2017 at 12:59am PDT

Cortez, a former boxer himself, has 40 years of referee experience, officiating some of the most notable fights in boxing history. He was asked to join the McGregor camp to teach the UFC lightweight champion the rules of boxing in preparation for his in-ring debut.

As you might already know, McGregor has spent some time sparring with former two-time boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi. Cortez was in the ring during a recent session between the two men. After their first night together, McGregor shared an image of him showboating with his hands behind his back against Malignaggi. It was an indicator that things could potentially get out of hand. Malignaggi offered insight into what that session was like, and one of the things that came up was the amount of trash-talk between the two.

So, it might come as no surprise, that during an eight-round sparring session last Thursday, according to Cortez, things got “a little out of control,” forcing him to separate McGregor and Malignaggi.

“(McGregor) was in there mixing it up a little bit with Paulie, and it was the real thing,” Cortez told Sirius XM Boxing. “I had to stop the action, say, ‘You guys are a little out of control here, you’ve got to stop this.’ You know, they got a little rough. “They were both roughing each other up, and I had to stop the action like it was a regular fight. They were holding too much; they were trying to punch each other.

“It got a little out of control to where I had to call, ‘Time! All right, guys, you’ve got to stop this right now. I want a good, clean, strong – give me a sportsman-like conduct. Understand?’”

Cortez added the amount of trash-talk didn’t help matters.

“I had to put a stop to that, as well,” Cortez said. “That’s partly why I had to stop the action.”

McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Mayweather (49-0 boxing) face off on Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a pay-per-view event expected to be the most lucrative prize fight of all time.

For more on “The Money Fight: Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor,” check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.