NEW YORK – Paulie Malignaggi made a spectacle of himself at Monday’s Bare Knuckle FC 6 news conference, and Artem Lobov is not amused.
Malignaggi and Lobov square off in the main event of the June 22 card in Tampa, Fla., and at Monday’s news conference, the former world boxing champion made his feelings about Conor McGregor’s friend perfectly clear, as he instigated a near-scuffle punctuated by a spitting incident.
Afterwards, Lobov was not impressed with Malignaggi’s performance.
“Look at this guy; he’s a loser,” Lobov told MMA Junkie. “He spits on people’s work. He spat on a mural, someone’s passion, someone’s hard work. Now again, what kind of behavior is that? That’s not human, human-like behavior. This guy, he is just, no respect, no nothing. So I can’t wait to put him away from the fans. Everyone in the world wants me to kill this (expletive).”
Asked what Malignaggi was trying to accomplish, Lobov said he doesn’t care, in choice terms.
“I don’t give a (expletive) what he’s trying,” Lobov said. “I think he’s just him being him, a dirty (expletive). I bet you his own mother hates him.”
As for the fact Malignaggi held a pair of world boxing titles, while Lobov is an MMA fighter who, by his own admission, is doing BKFC to make few bucks, Lobov doesn’t seem too concerned about the experience disparity.
“I’m going to train hard,” Lobov said. “I get the hardest sparring partners. A lot of very, very good boxers, you know? He said I never fought a boxer before. He was never that exceptional. Malignaggi is old and slow and finished. There’s nothing there that he can surprise me with.
“We’ve seen it all. I’ve sparred with guys, and I always take the strongest challenges. He’s not going to surprise me at all.”
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