Paulie Malignaggi and Artem Lobov were in New York City to promote their upcoming main event at BKFC 6 and Cageside Press was on hand to capture all the action.
New York, NY — On Monday, May 20, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships (BKFC) held a press conference for BKFC 6 in Dave and Busters in New York City. Featured were the main event fighters, Paulie Malignaggi and Artem Lobov, as well as the co-main event fighters, Chris Leben and Brennan Ward.
To start the conference, each fighter was given the opportunity to speak their mind on the event before questions were taken. Bellator veteran Brennan Ward and UFC fan-favorite Chris Leben were both insistent that they were built for bare-knuckle fighting, with Ward emphasizing the lack of wrestling and grappling as positives. This was their one chance to speak, because they were not asked questions once questions started being asked.
Artem Lobov played off of Leben and Ward saying they were built for bare-knuckle by saying Paulie Malignaggi was the opposite, and his fighting style will not translate to the sport.
Malignaggi then took the mic, and this is where stuff started getting hairy. While Malignaggi was talking at length (he poked fun at all three fighters for being “short on words”), Lobov hurled insults at him from his seat. Malignaggi pointed out that he let Lobov speak when he was given the chance, and that Lobov should do the same. Things escalated when their past encounter was brought up, with the boxer asking, “How could you let me slap you?” Lobov then got closer to Malignaggi, who then bopped him with the microphone. Both men had to be held back, and once things settled down, the press conference was able to begin.
It was full of trash talk, with Malignaggi saying he’ll put Lobov in a coma then urinate in his “toothless mouth.” He also insisted that the fight be promoted as Malignaggi vs. Lobov, and not the other way around. Lobov fired back by saying Malignaggi avoided all the tough fights in his career, and when he took them, he lost.
After the microphone (yes, there was only one microphone for the entire press conference) was taken from a rambling Malignaggi, it was time for staredowns. For an unknown reason, they started with the main event, and another scrap unfolded after Malignaggi spit on Lobov. Watch below:
As a result, Leben and Ward were not given a staredown opportunity.
BKFC 6 goes down on June 22 (because Malignaggi did not want to waste his summer training for a “bum”) in Tampa, Florida, on pay-per-view.
