Paulie Malignaggi says Artem Lobov fight means more than payback against Conor McGregor

Mark Lelinwalla

•
Paulie Malignaggi says Artem Lobov fight means more than payback against Conor McGregor image

NEW YORK — The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 6 pay-per-view main event pitting Paulie Malignaggi against Artem Lobov at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa, FL. is being billed as “The Line is Drawn.”

But “The Line Has Been Crossed” is probably more fitting.

Speaking before a press conference at Dave & Buster’s in Times Square on Monday, Lobov said he can’t wait to grab Malignaggi “by the f—g head and shove my fist down his throat,” adding that the boxer is nothing more than a guy who padded his record with inferior opponents — even discrediting him for his December 2013 victory over Zab Judah, saying the latter boxer was past his prime at that point.

During the presser Malignaggi promised to put Lobov in a “f—g coma,” in addition to vowing to spit and piss on his lifeless body in the ring.

Malignaggi tried to hit Lobov on the head with the microphone during a faceoff, and the two had to be separated before an all-out skirmish erupted.

 

 

Malignaggi also spit on Lobov, proving he couldn’t wait to make good on one of his boasts.

 

 

Dave & Buster’s, an entertainment gaming venue that usually is the breeding ground for unfiltered joy, has never seen such hate.

Monday’s scene followed Malignaggi slapping Lobov at the Mendez Boxing gym in New York City last month during the latter fighter’s media workout.

 

 

There’s clearly bad blood — and beyond — here and it all stems from Conor McGregor tabbing Malignaggi to spar with him in preparation for his August 2017 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Malignaggi asserted that McGregor’s camp doctored photos of their sparring session to make it seem like the MMA superstar got the best of Malignaggi in his own sport.

The Brooklyn native voiced his displeasure with McGregor’s camp and there’s been bitter resentment between Malignaggi and McGregor since. In fact, one of Malignaggi’s reasons for signing with BKFC was to exact revenge on McGregor’s camp through Lobov, who’s McGregor’s friend. That, and Malignaggi claims he’s getting paid handsomely for it.

But ask Malignaggi and there’s more to it than his history with McGregor that’s cutting deep with this situation. Representing boxing and boxers, after he claims a large portion of the MMA world has disrespected the sweet science, is what he’s also after. Along those lines, the former two-weight world champion believes that the brutality of MMA can’t compare to that of boxing.

“There’s a reason why boxing has more deaths and traumatic brain injuries [than MMA] because we are the most dangerous combat sport,” Malignaggi told a pool of reporters after the fireworks from the press conference concluded. "I don’t care how many 360[-degree] roundhouse kicks you can do."

"At the end of the day, you just have to do this [tapping on the table to simulate tapping out] and it’s over. In boxing, if you sit on your stool, you’ll never live it down for the rest of your career.

“In MMA, (tapping on the table) Mr. Tap Machine Conor, he does it every fight,” he continued. “He’s done it, what, three out of his last four fights? [Editors' note: Two out of the last four]. He’s not “Notorious” McGregor. He’s tap-out McGregor."

 

 

“In MMA, they praise these guys,” Malignaggi added moments later. “This guy is over there selling whiskey and people are buying it. In boxing, if a guy quit as much as this guy quit and they tried to make any product, they’d kick him in his ass.”

Lobov said he and McGregor have had conversations about Malignaggi, but that really “there’s nothing to talk about. [Malignaggi’s] dog s—.”

Malignaggi mentioned putting Lobov in a coma in the aftermath of last week, when WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder received plenty of criticism for saying that he wanted to catch a body and make a crime scene out of Dominic Breazeale in their fight Saturday night.

Still, when Malignaggi thought about it more, he didn’t opt to rescind those comments, instead doubling down on them.

“At days end, the reason for me saying, put him in a coma or kill him — listen, you don’t ever want to wish bad, bad things on anybody, but honestly, would I feel bad if he wound up there? No, I wouldn’t feel bad because he disrespected all the families of all the people I’ve known personally have gone through this,” Malignaggi said.

“There’s a respect level that we have [in boxing] and it’s being surpassed now, it’s being overcome now with this garbage from this other community. For me, I think the way you solve it is seeing one of their own in a coma, seeing one of their own in a f—g coffin. Then you say, you know what? F—, this s— is not a joke, this s— is not to be played with, this s— is for real.”

Whatever transpires over the course of five two-minute rounds — if it gets that far — don't expect a handshake at the end of this one.

Mark Lelinwalla

Mark Lelinwalla Photo

Mark Lelinwalla is a contributing writer and editor for DAZN News. He has written for the likes of the New York Daily News, Men's Health, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Complex, XXL and Vibe Magazine.