Efter mycket drama är det i helgen äntligen dags för Artem Lobov (1-0 bare knuckle) och Paulie Malignaggi (0-0 bare knuckle) att mötas under Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 6 main-event.
Erfarenhet
Trots att Lobov bara har gått en match i BKFC och att det är Malignaggis debut så har de båda stor erfarenhet. Lobov har bland annat ett mma-record på 13-15-1-1 och Malignaggi har ett framgångsrik proffsboxningskarriär bakom sig (36-8).
Lobov har alltid varit intresserad av de tuffa utmaningarna som kampsporten bjudit på och det är inget annorlunda den här gången heller.
I en intervju med The Mac Life berättar han:
“It ticks all the boxes for me except one. I always seek the highest challenge, the biggest challenge. I always look to truly challenge myself. When I was in the UFC I challenged some of the biggest guys in the world. When I was fighting in Europe I did the same. Anywhere I was, I always seek the hardest challenge. I win some, I lose some but I always take the hardest challenge.”
Personligt
Inför mötet så har det hänt en hel del drama där Malignaggi både har spottat på och örfilat Lobov. Det hela har blivit personligt för Lobov som inte bara vill vinna, utan straffa Malignaggi för sitt beteende inför matchen.
“This is not the case this time, this is personal, this is about settling a score. This is about punishing someone that’s done a lot of wrongs. Somebody that’s been running his mouth a bit too much, somebody that’s been behaving like an animal, not like a human. Somebody that’s been so disrespectful on so many levels. I have to make this right, that’s what this is about.”
“Fighting Paulie Malignaggi in bare-knuckle is not a challenge for me. He hasn’t got a clue what he’s in for here. He’s just preparing for a boxing, twelve-round fight. It’s not that.”
“I want to hurt this guy extra hard, I want to punish this guy extra long. I want to play with this guy as much as I want. I want to get him for everything that he has said. I want to get him for everything that he has done — not just for me, but for everyone around the world.”
På lördag är det dags. Vem tror du står som segrare till slut?
