By Jake Donovan


The fight isn’t until Saturday evening, but junior welterweights Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi wasted no time throwing down well before their showdown at the WaMu Theatre in New York City.  


Both fighters made weight for tomorrow’s main event, only for emotions to take over, as the scene erupted into a mini-riot, forcing security and the event’s handlers to clear out the room.


Malignaggi checked in at 139 lb, while Khan – making his stateside debut – was slightly heavier at 139½ lb for their HBO-televised main event (Saturday, 9:45PM ET/PT).


Immediately following the weigh-in was the obligatory staredown, which usually serves as little more than a photo-op and occasional jawing between the two fighters.


This instance went well beyond that. The two fighters were in each other’s grill going back and forth at one another. Enough words were exchanged for Khan to lose his composure and shove Malignaggi, with things escalating way out of control soon thereafter.


A mini-riot ensued. Not helping matters is the number of people on hand specifically for the fighters, particularly on the Khan side, which was estimated to be rolling at 100-deep.


The room had to be cleared out, with order finally being restored after a few minutes.


At stake for the actual fight tomorrow evening is Khan’s alphabet title, though in defending the trinket he concedes home court advantage to Malignaggi, who fights mere miles from his Brooklyn backyard.


Khan (22-1, 16KO) last fought in December, against yet another Brooklyn-based fighter when he stopped Dmitry Salita in less than a round. The bout marked the lone defense of the title Khan won five months prior with a convincing decision over Andriy Kotelnik.


Malignaggi (27-3, 5KO) is coming off of a career-best win after having soundly defeated Juan Diaz in their rematch last December. Saturday’s fight will mark the third time he plays the Garden, though the two previous two fights took place in the main room.


Full video soon to follow from Boxingscene.com Editor-In-Chief Rick Reeno.


Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.