Paulie Malignaggi is aiming to become a two-sport champion in the coming weeks when the decorated gloved boxing titleholder vies for bare-knuckle gold, and a former BKFC champ has weighed in on this. The combatant in question is Mike Richman, and mutual respect was shown when Richman won his first BKFC strap, the interim light heavyweight crown from Isaac Doolittle.
In the wake of that BKFC 31 title fight, Paulie Malignaggi tipped his cap to ‘The Marine’ around that point in a social media post from Richman. ‘The Magic Man’ recently bested Tyler Goodjohn to earn his first win in gloveless combat, and over a former BKB champ no less, after a 2019 loss to Artem Lobov in the BKFC ring.
When asked for his thoughts on Malignaggi’s looming clash with Rolando Dy for the latter’s BKB title on May 16th in Manchester, Richman said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Oh man, I got nothing but love for Paulie Malignaggi, man. I was a big fan of his style. He was so slick I was a big fan of his style when he was a boxer, even before he transitioned. You know, I’ve been a big fan of him for a long time. Then I was sponsored back in my MMA days, him and his Future Legend Clothing brand. I was sponsored by them for a handful of fights. They supported me a lot in my MMA career.”
Paulie Malignaggi’s style “perfect to cut people up….and win in bare knuckle”, per former BKFC champ
Speaking more to Malignaggi’s looming clash inside the Mighty Trigon for bare-knuckle boxing hardware, Richman continued, [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“So to see Paulie go out there, he’s still slick. I mean, he’s still got it. I think his accuracy and his jab and his movement is perfect to cut people up and score and win in bare knuckle. Yeah, I’m happy to see him go out there and try to reel in another title. He’s doing it in the Trigon, too, and that’s an even smaller ring. So even less movement and his style is [built] on movement. So, it’s cool to see him get in there and get after it. All the love to Paulie.”
