After 44 career fights as a professional boxer, former two-division champion Paulie Malignaggi made his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut last year in a close and competitive loss to Artem Lobov.
In recent months, former world boxing champions like Ishe Smith and Shannon Briggs have thrown their name in the hat of bare knuckle fighting.
The 39-year-old Malignaggi now serves as a boxing analyst for Showtime, and he offered his take on the fairly nascent televised fighting format that seems to be picking up steam for combat sportsmen.
“The one tricky thing about bare knuckle fighting is that in boxing, you’re used to punching through your opponent, not at them. That’s the big one, and why MMA guys would have more of an advantage because the padding on their gloves are less. MMA guys are not used to punching through guys,” Malignaggi told BoxingScene.com in an interview.
“Bare knuckle boxing is too bad for the hands. I took damage in my hands in that fight that I still feel today. I can’t fight in that kind of combat. Stylistically, it’s not that difficult, but it’s hard on my hands. I would consider more bare knuckle fights but it’s a shame my hands are damaged. The damage my hands took in fighting Lobov for 10 minutes I still haven’t recovered. My hands are OK as far as everyday life, but I wouldn’t be able to punch right now.”
Malignaggi has had four surgeries in his right hand. He broke his hand against Lobov but didn’t displace the bone and didn’t require surgery, only a cast.
In his post-match interview for his Valor Bare Knuckle debut and unanimous decision win, Smith said the fighting style was “definitely different and something to get used to. I hurt my hand in there a little bit. You feel every punch you hit [an opponent] with. In boxing, you don’t feel anything, hardly, unless you throw the wrong punch. Here, every punch you hurt him with, it hurts me too. You have to be a savage to do this.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports and hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com.