Paulie Malignaggi confirms he’s been contacted about boxing rematch with Artem Lobov

In 2019, at BKFC 6, Paulie Malignaggi stepped through the ropes for a bare-knuckle boxing match with MMA product Artem Lobov. Despite possessing far more pure boxing experience, Malignaggi lost a tight decision to his rival.

Given the competitive nature of the bout, there was some talk of a rematch between the two. Speaking to BJPENN.com recently, Lobov confirmed that he was actually approached about competing in a boxing rematch with Malignaggi.

“Certainly [I’d rematch Paulie]. I have had some inquires about that as I had a boxing promoter reach out to me and ask if I’d be interested in a pro boxing match against Paulie,” Lobov said. “With the coronavirus, all of that was put on hold but certainly I’d do it. Pro boxing has been something I’ve thought about for a long time. I think it would be a good first opponent for it.”

Speaking to The Schmo and Helen Yee on The Schmozone podcast recently, Malignaggi confirmed that a boxing rematch with Lobov has indeed been broached.

“Yeah a boxing promoter reached out to me in December about possibility doing a boxing match with Artem Lobov — a regular boxing match, ” Malignaggi confirmed. “I said ‘yeah, if you know how to do it and you have the money, sure, I’ll hear you out.’

“They were going to do it somewhere pretty cool, it was actually going to be not in the United States, it was going to be all set-up and whatnot,” Malignaggi added. “It all sounded really good, but usually saying it and doing it is different. I can tell you I’m going to the moon tomorrow, but it doesn’t mean I’m actually going to go to the moon. So I said ‘yeah, ok.’ I told them ‘I’m not even going to bring this up to my team. I’m not going to bring this up to my team until I have some structure and an organized offer first.”

Does a boxing match between Paulie Malignaggi and Artem Lobov interest you?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/16/2020.