Everyone involved in boxing and MMA knows all about Paulie Malignaggi's rivalry with Conor McGregor but it seems his attention is firmly on the UFC's star's training partner, Artem Lobov, after the pair engaged in an extremely heated exchange on Tuesday.The pair aren’t actually scheduled for a bout against one another in the new Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation but there is already plenty of spite should a bout be arranged for later in the year.Malignaggi and McGregor have been at each other’s throats for the past two years – however they are unlikely to ever face each other in the ring.They had a bad falling out after McGregor used Malignaggi as a sparring partner for a scheduled fight with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.McGregor was stopped in 10 rounds, but he leaked footage and photos of his sparring sessions with Malignaggi which appeared to show the latter being knocked down - subsequently winding up the retired boxer.

Both Malignaggi and Lobov recently signed contracts with Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation and depending on the outcome of Lobov’s April 6 fight with Jason Knight, he could be facing Malignaggi before the end of the year.

But the pair very nearly came to blows in the gym after clashing at a media day on Tuesday.

Following the heated encounter, Malignaggi made his feelings known towards his victim.
“That was a B*** slap, you disrespect boxing I’ll put you in a body bag.”

Lobov currently is scheduled to face UFC veteran Jason Knight on April 20 in Biloxi, but the promotion apparently thought they would get a head start on hyping his next match with Malignaggi.

The 32-year-old has already claimed that his fight with Knight is a preview for a fight with Malignaggi.

“I always show up and I’m going to show people what will happen,” Lobov said on BJPENN Radio, per Boxing Scene, last week.

“So I will burst through this guy April 6th, and then down the line I want Paulie Malignaggi.”
“This is the fight that I’m really after.”