By Ryan Burton
Former junior welterweight champion Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi speaks to BoxingScene.com about his May loss to Amir Khan. Malignaggi talks about the problems he had in making weight for that fight and also talks about the technical aspects of the loss. Malignaggi also feels a move up to welterweight will benefit him in making another run at a title. The Magic Man also talks about fighting in Europe and more in this exclusive interview.
BoxingScene.com: BoxingScene earlier reported that you were looking at moving up to the welterweight division. Do you want to go straight into a big fight or do you want a tune up to get ready for a bigger name?
Paulie Malignaggi: I am sure we will do some type of tune up. I am sure I will test it out a little bit at a time and see what happens. I have some other stuff going on too so I haven't really given it a lot of thought. I haven't really mapped it out so to speak but it will be at welterweight and it probably won't be a quick restart right at a title. I have an eye on the European title. I know Mathew Hatton defends it soon. If he wins it I definitely have an eye on that. I know that a couple of the champions in the welterweight division are from Europe and I have given some thought to fighting out of Italy and having a European base so to speak. I haven't really given it enough thought yet to say exactly how it is going to be. There is still a thinking out process that needs to be done in my head and with my team.
BoxingScene.com: Have you thought about when you want to return to the ring? It sounds like you might want to sit out the rest of the year.
Paulie Malignaggi: I wouldn't say that. If I told you that I had been in the gym since my last fight I would be lying to you. I haven't worked out or anything. Ideally I would say that I want to come back in the fall but of course I also had said I wanted to come back in August and that is not going to happen now. We will see what will happen. I have been caught up with some other stuff. Depending on how everything else goes I will be able to make a decision on when I want to fight again. Obviously if I am going to fight I want to do it as soon as possible. I am not going to tell you that boxing is my first priority right now but it will be a priority again soon. I don't plan on getting out of here and retiring or anything. It will be a priority in the right time. I need to take care of some other stuff right now.
BoxingScene.com: I know that Gato Figueroa has talked about moving up to welterweight. That seems like it would be a perfect fight for both you guys since you would both be moving up and you are both popular in New York. It isn't a huge fight but it would be big in New York.
Paulie Malignaggi: That is definitely a possibility. Everything and everyone is a possibility. You never want to shun any opportunity or option. I can't say we will do this but we won't do that. You can't say what you are going to do for sure or what you are not going to do for sure. You don't know how the chips will fall. Gato is a friend of mine and I have a lot of respect for him. I am sure that if there was money on the table and it was worth it or it would lead to something bigger for the winner of course I would do it. First things first though. We will see how it goes. If I could plan it my way I don't think I would be fighting in the United States for a while at least, but it also depends on what my team decides is the best situation for me. It isn't just my decision it is a team decision. That isn't to say I won't fight in New York. I might fight in New York in my next fight. Like I said you don't want to shun any of your options. The way I am thinking right now is that I will be fighting in Europe for a little bit.
BoxingScene.com: There is a lot of money to be made in Europe. In previous interviews we have done you had mentioned wanting to fight in Italy before you retire. If the money was right and everything else was equal is Italy where you would have your next fight?
Paulie Malignaggi: Yeah of course. I don't think there is a big money fight in my near future. I don't think my next fight will be a big money fight. If I am going to take a fight that isn't a big money fight I think I would rather do it in Europe. I think to a certain extent I am more appreciated by the fans in Europe. That isn't to say my American fans aren't great because they are and I was very impressed by the support I got for the Khan fight. It is nothing against my American fans. It is the regular American boxing fans and some of the media and what not that are kind of getting to me and I am getting sick and tired of it. I go to Europe and get treated like a rock star and I go back to the United States and I get treated like I am some type of an idiot. I have kind of gotten a little disillusioned with it but that is not to say my next fight might not be in the United States. I haven't given it a lot of thought but the way I am thinking right now is that I will probably be in Europe for a little bit.
BoxingScene.com: Not to dwell on the last fight but was Amir Khan better than you thought? What went wrong in that fight?
Paulie Malignaggi: I definitely didn't underestimate Amir Khan. We talked all the trash before the fight but I knew Amir Khan was going to be tough because he was a speed guy who knew how to use his height and how to use his range. I knew he was a guy who knew how to win rounds. He is a young guy with fast hands. He isn't the most talented fighter I have ever fought but he is very intelligent and he knows how to win the rounds so he knew how to win the fight. Styles make fights. A lot of my defense is pulling on counters and I use my shoulders. I don't get underneath a lot of shots you know. I think with Amir the plan was to try to get underneath him a little bit because he would pull and he was fast. He wasn't going to give us his height. If he did give up his height even a little bit he was fast enough to get out before I could counter him.
Most of the guys I beat, like if you saw the Juan Diaz fights, I beat them by pulling. Using pull counters and check hooking. Just me working off my shoulders and pulling. That is the only reason with Buddy (McGirt) I was so bad. I was still trying fight my way yet fight out of a low stance. You can't pull and stay low at the same time. It is one or the other and I was kind of in no man's land and that is why I was looking so bad. Going back to the Amir Khan fight this was a fight where my style actually worked against me. You can't really pull him. You have to get underneath him. My plan was to get underneath him. I understood very early when I had seem him fight that getting back and pulling wasn't going to work because he was fast and he knew how to keep his range.
I thought maybe I could get underneath him and maybe counter him from underneath and get underneath his offense. He was doing something really smart. Before I could get underneath him he would push me down. Steve Smoger watched a good fight. He definitely didn't ref a good fight. All credit to Amir because he executed perfectly. I don't know if it was him or Freddie (Roach) but whoever it was it was a great game plan. I couldn't get underneath him because I was getting pushed down so I was forced to pull and when you pull you aren't going to get away with it if you are smaller than him. He is going to be taller than most junior welterweights. All credit to Freddie and Amir because they came up with a good game plan. They knew what they had and they knew what they were fighting and they put it together perfectly. I have to say I had a great training camp. I felt really good in training camp. Did some of the fight have to do with my weight? I think so. I felt so strong. It was one of my better training camps and then once I tried to get under 147 pounds and then 145 pounds it was like death. Literally. I was telling my team already that if I won that title I couldn't defend it.
I had been at that weight for eight years and it got harder every single fight to the point where we looked at moving up but I was getting good money fights that I wasn't going to turn down. I was telling my team if I win this belt unfortunately I am going to have to vacate it because I can't make this weight anymore. I told myself that I was going to make the weight or die trying and I made it (laughing) but I didn't do myself any favors. Having said all that, Amir and Freddie came up with a great game plan for me. They had a great game plan to beat Paulie Malignaggi. They really knew what I was going to do and they were very prepared for a lot of the things I do and they were ready for a lot of the mistakes I would make. They forced me to make a lot of the mistakes I just explained to you and all credit to them. I think he has a great career ahead of him. He has a good team around him and the ability to go far.
BoxingScene.com: Have we seen the best of Paulie Malignaggi or by moving up and not having to struggle to make weight will we see an even better Paulie Malignaggi than the one from the Juan Diaz fights?
Paulie Malignaggi: I think you definitely have a shot at that. I don't think there are too many guys as fast or as tall as Amir Khan. That combination. If they are as tall as him then they aren't as fast. He had a great package to trouble me. That is why the Ricky Hatton fight will always be one of my biggest regrets. Ricky Hatton was made for me. You saw what I did to Juan Diaz as far as pulling and a lot of those counters I landed. If you watch the Ricky Hatton fight you can actually see me in the low stance yet I am trying to pull. You can't pull when you are low because they are already out of range. I was kind of in that no man's land and it was so frustrating. I can't even watch that fight anymore or that time frame in general. If a guy is taller than me he won't be as fast in general. To be taller than me and faster than me I think is a rare breed. There aren't too many Amir Khans. That is not to say he is the most talented fighter but he definitely knows how to win fights. He is intelligent in the ring. For all the knockout talk they never tried to knock me out. They let the knockout come slowly. Amir never really stepped into a lot of punches. He wasn't a big puncher but he is an intelligent fighter. Brains wins fight man. People can talk about knockouts all they want and talk about all the strength they want but in the end intelligence wins fights.
BoxingScene.com: Do you have a message for your fans that have stayed loyal?
Paulie Malignaggi: I know it hasn't been easy for them. What have I lost two out of my last four fights? I know its three fights in the last couple years so it is definitely a frustrating time for them. I appreciate all the fans that have stuck behind me through the thick and thin and through some of the controversial comments I have made which I will always stand by. That doesn't mean I don't respect people for their hard work. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate my fans because I do more than anything. A possible move to Europe is a strategic career move and it is a chance for my European fans to see me live. I believe I have a lot of them and every time I go there I get treated excellent. I want my American fans to know they aren't forgotten. They can always hit me up at my Facebook or Twitter and stuff like that. I always have love for them.
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