I'm not completely sure what Malignaggi's accomplishments have to do with it - my point was more that he's speaking as though Valtellini is just some dude. Although I would argue that Valtellini isbetter at his sport than Paulie is at his... although that isn't really relevant either
It's cool man, no two people can agree on absolutely everything
I will give you that the CTE for Thais isn't as broadly known. I'm not sure how its a double standard to look to protect yourself in a sport, even if you're objective is to hurt the other guy. When two guys fight, then go for it, but I don't think that means that you should risk your own health in training.
I can understand Paulie's POV - but I go back to my Thai argument, now I agree with you that there's no CTE but considering they start as children, and aren't completely ruined by the time their twenty, and often continue fighitng up to 30 and sometimes passed that, often being competitive with those much younger should indicate that their methods certainly allow for a longer career.
I'd be intersted to know if theres any similarities between their sparring and the sparring of boxers lik Sugar Ray Robinson