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\n\t\tPaulie Malignaggi says he has suffered \u2018complications\u2019 from his bare-knuckle fight in Leeds in October (BKB)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPaulie Malignaggi says he has suffered \u2018complications\u2019 from his bare-knuckle fight in Leeds in October (BKB)<\/p>\n
American bareknuckle boxer Paulie Malignaggi has criticised NHS staff for the treatment he received after his fight in Leeds<\/a> and claims he suffered \u2018complications\u2019 from his injuries.<\/p>\n Malignaggi beat Tyler Goodjohn in a five-round bout at BKB 47 last October and was left with two severe cuts above his eyes, as well as multiple fractured ribs.<\/p>\n The 45-year-old, who fought Ricky Hatton<\/a>, Amir Khan<\/a> and Miguel Cotto during his professional boxing career, was taken to Leeds General Hospital\u00a0after his fight but spent nearly nine hours waiting for treatment.<\/p>\n Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show this week, Malignaggi described NHS staff as \u2018inept animals\u2019 and insists he would have received better post-fight treatment in the United States.<\/p>\n \u2018The cuts would have been just a regular stitch job in a regular hospital in the United States, they would stitch you up, maybe you leave in a couple of hours and you\u2019re good to go, you take the stitches out next week and you\u2019re fine,\u2019 Malignaggi said.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018But they have people in the UK that work in the NHS that in America, probably wouldn\u2019t even be allowed to work on farm animals. They let them work on human beings in these hospitals. I was in that hospital all night. My wounds were not cleaned and so on.<\/p>\n \u2018Basically, what I\u2019m getting at is the complications from one of the cuts has been constantly infected and pussing out up until a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u2018It is closed at the moment, I expect it to open up in the fight, but then again I expect cuts to open up in a bare-knuckle fights where I won\u2019t even have scares, let alone with scars.<\/p>\n \u2018This is due to the animals that they have working at the NHS. Absolute inept animals, who also were keeping me in the waiting room, not cleaning the blood dripping down my face. I\u2019m hearing them gossiping in the other room, the hospital is almost completely empty, they don\u2019t even have a guy there to stitch anybody, let alone take care of whoever is in there.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m in that waiting room half sleeping, because it\u2019s the middle of the night, half passing out, with blood dripping down my face. It was a pretty interesting experience.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t A spokesperson for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: \u2018We\u2019re sorry Mr\u00a0Malignaggi had to wait in our Emergency Department to be treated following his bare-knuckle fight.<\/p>\n \u2018We do prioritise patients based on clinical need, to ensure that the most critically ill patients are treated first. If Mr Malignaggi would like to contact us, we would be happy to discuss his complaint further.\u2019<\/p>\n Speaking in a video from the hospital after his fight in October, Malignaggi raised his initial complaints about the level of care he had received.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m fine. I\u2019m still in Leeds General Hospital. This is crazy, by the way. I don\u2019t know how it works in the UK. I still\u00a0have not been stitched up. It\u2019s 4:30 in the morning, I got here 10:00. Still have not been stitched up, guys,\u2019 the Brooklyn-born fighter said.<\/p>\n \u2018They X-rayed me, didn\u2019t give me the results on my hands. They gave me a CAT scan, I\u2019ve got broken ribs in the back from all the kidney punches. The kid broke my ribs, my lower rib on the left side. And my eyes are too foggy still. When they put the really bright light, it\u2019s too foggy for them to tell the extent of the damage.\u2019<\/p>\n Malignaggi is returning to the UK this month for another BKB-promoted bare-knuckle fight in Manchester on May 16.<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paulie-Malignaggi-interview-db1a.jpg\")
\n\t\tPaulie Malignaggi has described NHS staff as \u2018inept animals\u2019 (BKB)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paulie-Malignaggi-in-hospital-a53d.jpg\")
\n\t\tPaulie Malignaggi suffered two severe cuts above his eyes<\/p>\n
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