Paulie Malignaggi, who previously hadn’t competed in an officially sanctioned fight since 2019, on Saturday battled Tyler Goodjohn over five rounds to earn a split decision win in their bareknuckle boxing match in Leeds, UK.

Although hardly a fish out of water, Brooklyn’s 44-year-old Malignaggi, now 1-1 in bareknuckle competition, was less accustomed to a gloveless fighting strategy and BKB’s triangle-shaped ring than was his opponent. Britain’s Goodjohn, now 5-4 (1 KO) in bareknuckle competition, most recently won a unanimous decision over Wales’ Joe Smith (not the American former light heavyweight titleholder) in April.

Goodjohn cracked Malignaggi with several big shots along the way – including a left hook in the first round – and even staggered his American opponent with a monster right cross to the temple and a compact right-handed follow-up to box Malignaggi’s ear in the fourth.

There were plenty of histrionics to be enjoyed from both men in between. After Goodjohn missed with his jab, then whiffed on a wild, looping right hand, Malignaggi’s eyes got big and he held both fists out high and to his side, mimicking a matador. A round later, Goodjohn baited Malignaggi by resting on the ropes, draping his arms and even tucking his hands underneath, smiling and urging his opponent to come forward.

In the end, Malignaggi’s cultured approach, accuracy and volume seemed to please the officials most in a razor-thin 48-47 (twice) and 47-48 decision.

Malignaggi, a former junior welterweight titleholder who went 36-8 (7 KOs) over a 15-year professional boxing career, retired from boxing after a knockout loss to Sam Eggington in 2017. But he never fully pulled away from the sport as a competitor, serving later that year as a sparring partner for MMA fighter Conor McGregor in his bout against Floyd Mayweather Jnr and, in 2019, trying his hands at bareknuckle boxing for the first time. Malignaggi lost a decision to Artem Lobov in a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship bout.

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.