Ben Askren reacts to Artem Lobov’s win over Paulie Malignaggi

Ben Askren has given his take on Artem Lobov’s victory over Paulie Malignaggi.

Lobov vs. Malignaggi served as the main event of BKFC 6 inside the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa on June 22. Malignaggi was the slight favorite going into the bout, but he dropped a unanimous decision after five rounds of bare-knuckle boxing action. Many were surprised that Lobov scored the win given Malignaggi’s boxing experience.

During a Periscope session, Askren weighed in on Lobov’s victory and why he isn’t impressed by boxers:

“I get that Paulie retired, but he was a world champion. Now Artem, I went back to his record to make sure he was as bad as I remember him being. The fact is he’s as bad as I remember him being. He stinks. And this wasn’t like he did MMA and had great standup but struggled on the ground, or always got taken down. Or had great hands but couldn’t deal with the kicks. It wasn’t anything like that. It was like he was a very average mixed martial artist. Average, that might even be getting a little too much.

“So how can a guy like that, who’s not even great at standup in mixed martial arts, go to beat a guy who was a world champion in boxing? And the answer to me seems that people who box must just not be that good at boxing.”

After falling short against Lobov, Malignaggi said his bare-knuckle boxing experience was one and done. Lobov made it clear that he plans on going for BKFC gold in his post-fight interview. As for Askren, he’ll be taking on Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 on July 6.

Does Ben Askren have a point about professional boxers not being as good at their craft as they think?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/26/2019.