Ahkil®

It is the most bizarre of sagas, a spasmodically woven tale of speculation, innuendo, litigation and public feuding, and boxing awaits its outcome with feverish anticipation. The political, legal and tactical wrangling that has overshadowed what is supposed to be 2010’s greatest battle, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, has often been so outlandish that it could not have been scripted.

Yet the emergence of Paulie Malignaggi as Pacquiao’s proposed next opponent, as the Filipino’s...