Paulie Malignaggi is making his return to the ring, however he’s retaining the gloves off.
On Tuesday, the 44-year-old former boxing champion formally inked a three-fight deal to compete for BKB Naked Knuckle boxing along with his debut anticipated on Sept. 6 in Bristol, England.
His first struggle with BKB really marks his second try at bare-knuckle preventing after he signed with BKFC and confronted UFC veteran Artem Lobov in a dropping effort again in 2019. That struggle was really some of the talked about matchups of the yr due to Malignaggi getting right into a heated dispute with UFC celebrity Conor McGregor over a sparring session they shared previous to McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
The unhealthy blood between these two boiled over however with McGregor signed to the UFC, he couldn’t enterprise out to take a struggle with a distinct promotion so Lobov stepped as much as the plate. Lobov gained the struggle by unanimous determination, however then he had his personal falling out with McGregor, and the now former pals are literally locked up in a lawsuit battle in Eire.
As for Malignaggi, he’ll try to show again the clock when he fights for the primary time in almost 4 years when he debuts for BKB in September.
“I may simply use my place to leap proper again right into a title struggle. However you already know what? That’s not what I’m going to do,” Malignaggi stated about becoming a member of BKB in a press launch. “I respect the fighters an excessive amount of. Right here at BKB, there’s actually good contenders within the tremendous welterweight division.
“I do know that I when this announcement will get round to the contenders, they’re all going to need a piece of me. I wish to struggle a type of high contenders and earn my spot. I don’t wish to leap the road. I nonetheless received what received the products and I’m chasing that title.”
Previous to signing to BKB as a fighter, Malignaggi really served as one of many lead commentators on broadcasts for the promotion. Now, he’ll struggle there with hopes of getting his first skilled win since 2016.
