The combat sports world continues to digest the fallout of last weekend’s (Sat., June 22, 2019) Artem Lobov vs. Paulie Malignaggi main event at BKFC 6 from the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa.
The fan-favorite ‘Russian Hammer’ was able to outlast former boxing champion Malignaggi in a close unanimous decision (highlights here) that some felt could have gone either way. Overall, it wasn’t quite the slugfest that the pre-fight trash talk suggested it would be, and that left many fans with a bad taste in their collective mouths.
Paulie Malignaggi Responds To BKFC 6
Malignaggi did appear to be controlling the opening action as the more polished boxer. But he also broke his notoriously brittle hands, sapping much of his striking power thereafter. The former two-division champ recently released a statement on his loss to Lobov on his Instagram that also included some brutal photos of his injuries. Check them both out here:
“Life is sometimes about being adventurous and trying new things. Many thought I was crazy for trying my hand at bare knuckle combat and while unfortunately I may not have been born with very durable hands, it is still an experience I get to look back on and say I lived it. People have always had very little expectations of me in my life but I can proudly say I’ve always fought my way to a better life. In life we all have obstacles and I’ve always been driven most when faced with adversity. In the end, despite my brittle hands (4 surgeries on my right hand) I have been able to accomplish more as mainly a 1 handed fighter than most fighters accomplish with 2 hands.
“And I did it with no shortcuts and having fought some amazing fighters, travelled to some amazing places and met some amazing people along the way. You always wonder if as you get older you still have the ability to dig down when things get tough. After 2 rounds Saturday night I sat in my corner now knowing I would be a 1 handed fighter for the remainder of this fight and I am proud I continued on and showed myself I still had a willingness to dig deep when faced with adversity as I found myself once again in a familiar predicament of having a damaged hand with a determined opponent across the ring coming to rip my head off yet now I was competing in a new form of combat. I assure you its not an enviable position but I’m glad I stayed true to myself as a man and as a fighter in the moment and continued to fight despite having to obviously adjust my strategy.
“Respect to @rushammer who always shows up to fight and give his best no mater what day or place or at what weight and respect to him for the fight on Saturday. Obviously I feel like I won the fight but that is in no way meant as a disrespect to him. I hope he can take the momentum he gained from this result and make plenty of money for himself and his family in his career . Here are some pics of my hands after Saturday nights fight.”
