Paulie Malignaggi Feels BKFC Loss is a Sign That He's 'Gotta Stop'

World champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi suffered a unanimous decision loss in his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut to rival Artem Lobov. For the first time in the nascent history of BKFC, the promotion held an event in Florida, which Malignaggi partially blames for the "s--- decision" he received from the judges.

Malignaggi spoke to the media at the BKFC 6 post-fight press conference and expressed his views on the inexperience of the Florida judges. "This is also a problem, and you know, man, I pull no punches. This is also a state that has a fight every 50 years, you know? You have judges that don't know what the f--- they're watching. Don't know what the f--- they're doing, and you get this. Everybody and their mothers thought I won this fight," Malignaggi said.

The "Magic Man" contends that he handily defeated Lobov despite likely breaking his right hand and being forced to overuse his left hand. Malignaggi also suffered a few lacerations to his face, most notably a large gash between his left eyebrow and the bridge of his nose.

Despite what he thinks was an incorrect scorecard, Malignaggi does not feel compelled to run this one back. Had he won, the boxer admits he would have continued in the sport of bare-knuckle fighting. But with this loss, Malignaggi is ready to move on with his life.

"I'm also 38-years-old and I guess like, this is like, sort of a sign to say, 'Yo, you gotta stop.' You know what I mean? 'Cause I probably would have kept doing this if I won this fight tonight," admitted Malignaggi. "Once I was in there and I got going it was kinda fun, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was like, I was in the moment. Sure, okay, it sucks getting hit of course, you know. But I took that one shot in the clinch and I'm like, I thought I dealt with the clinch pretty well. I was pretty elusive."