by Chris Robinson
On May 15th of this year Paulie Malignaggi suffered a humbling loss at the hands of British star Amir Khan. Fighting at the WaMu theatre inside of Madison Square Garden, the former champion seemed befuddled for the first time in his career and didn’t have any answers for Khan’s fluid combinations or sharp power punches, eventually suffering an 11th round TKO in his bid for the WBA junior welterweight championship.
In the often fickle sport of boxing, Malignaggi’s loss was analyzed excruciatingly by many parties, some who even shared their thoughts that perhaps his days as a championship level fighter were over. Following the defeat Malignaggi flew under the radar of the public’s eye but deep down inside of him something seemed to be brewing.
After some soul searching that resulted in some important moves, Malignaggi would make his debut as a welterweight last weekend with a 6th round stoppage over former title challenger Michael Lozada on the Jean Pascal-Bernard Hopkins undercard in Quebec, Canada. Now under the umbrella of Golden Boy Promotions and ironically having trained out of the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles for his last showcase, the same facility used by Khan, the logistics in Malignaggi’s career have been altered but he speaks like a man with a new outlook on everything.
I caught up with the Brooklyn fighter late this week and discussed a myriad of topics and, as always, Malignaggi was candid with his delivery. Our discussion revolved around his mental state in getting past the Khan setback, how money changes people, the love he has received from his friends, and his time training in Los Angeles. We also took a look at some other fighters in the sport as we chopped up the May 7th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas while Malignaggi also gave tremendous respect to WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, who he claims to be the best fighter he has ever faced.
In his own words, this is what Malignaggi had to say…
Good to be back…
“It felt good. I felt that it has been a long time coming. After the Khan loss I really had think about my future and my boxing career as well. Things are looking up and I have a deal with Golden Boy Promotions. I needed this fight. It just felt good to be back in the ring. It felt good to go six rounds and I look forward to the welterweight division and coming back.”
Nothing left…
“First off I want to say that Amir Khan is a phenomenal fighter and I would have always had a tough time with Amir Khan. But making weight was a big part of me getting kind of listless in that fight. I had already told my team on the week of the fight that if I had won the world title that I wasn’t going to defend that title. I was going to vacate the title. Honestly I killed myself to the point where there was nothing left.”
Making the move to 147…
“People always ask me ‘Well, you’re coming up in weight, you’re not that strong and you are going to lose your speed now that you’re heavier’. But it had gotten to the point that I was so flat from making weight that I didn’t have the speed anyways. After that fight I knew I had to make a move.”
Training at the Wild Card…
“After the Khan fight I was going through some tough times personally and I figured I would leave altogether and find a new training ground. I said I was going to leave and I came to L.A. It had been very difficult trying to find sparring on the East Coast and at the Wild Card you get to go to the gym and find great sparring. It made sense for a lot of reasons and I’m really glad I made the move. We worked on a lot of different things in camp.”
Working with Golden Boy Promotions…
“It’s a great move. I wish I could have done this earlier in my career. They are what I call go-getters. They aren’t satisfied; they always want more. They have a great company. I’m a go-getter myself and I always strive for more. I feel that I am running with the right people. It makes sense for a lot of reasons.”
Taking the losses…
“If I had to really say it in one word I would say tumultuous. I’ll tell you, Amir Khan was a very good fighter and I will take that loss. Miguel Cotto was another good fighter and I will take that loss. Even though there were things that could have been different with Amir, I still don’t know if things would have went my way. But the other losses are the same. And especially the one to Juan Diaz, I felt that I got jobbed.”
Love and honesty…
“I totally feel that friendship is love and honesty. You can’t be dishonest to someone and say you love them. Those are the things that are most important in a friendship. Throughout my career I have had some ups and some downs. And a lot of people will drop you like a bad habit when you are down. Just in general, once you are on top a lot of people change. But you want to have those people who will ride with you through the ups and the downs. Trust me, man it is not easy having friends and trying to figure out who is honest with you and who is just there for the ride.”
Making money…
“I’ve made some very good money and I live comfortably. I’ve made some pretty good investments. If you would have asked me when I was twenty years old I though I was going to be making Oscar De La Hoya money. Money to me is just an option. I’m still very grateful for all of the money I have made. I still believe I am me but I noticed, when you make money the people are you change towards you.”
Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley…
“I really like the fight. I think stylistically it is two guys who come to fight. Nobody is going to be doing any lollygagging in that fight, ya know? I think people really are discrediting Shane a little too much based off what happened in his last few fights. He was shut down by Floyd but Manny Pacquiao is not as good defensively as Floyd Mayweather. I think you are really going to have an explosive fight. Stylistically, I think it’s a really tough fight. I’m not going to tell you Shane Mosley is going to win or going to lose, but it’s two guys who are coming to bang it out. I think it’s a really good fight.”
In the ring with Miguel Cotto…
“I think Miguel Cotto, to me, is the best of my opponents as far as being a quality fighter. He’s by far the best fighter I have fought in my career. He hits way harder than anybody else I have fought. He knows how to cut the ring off, he knows how to make you fight his fight, and he has skill. He knows how to do all of those things and when you put it all together in a package, he is a very tough guy to get in the ring with.”
A funny sport...
“Boxing is a funny sport. The thing with the critics, the fans, and the media is that they think they know it all. But they don’t know. They’ll be quick to write you off then right away as soon as you look good they will come back to jump in the bandwagon. And the next week they are writing you off again. Every fighter acts differently. Before you jump the gun you really need to see the fighter.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here , and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
