By Rick Reeno, Lem Satterfield

The tension was stirring when you entered the Essex House Hotel in midtown, Manhatan, where Golden Boy Promotions and DiBella Ent. staged the official weigh-in for Saturday's junior welterweight clash between WBA champion Amir Khan and challenger Paulie Malignaggi.

Khan's entourage was in full force and outnumbered Team Malignaggi by at least a 3-1 margin. After both fighters made weight, they were brought together for the traditional stare-down and that's when the trouble started. During the entire promotion, a lot of harsh words have been exchanged by both sides. The words continued when the two fighters came face to face, or better yet - forehead to forehead. The two camps unable to pull the fighters apart as they exchanged words.

Golden Boy's Vice President Eric Gomez practically had Khan by the neck, but the words between the two fighters continued until an all-out brawl nearly exploded on stage. The camps were shoving each other, and there have been several accusations of punches being thrown.

Malignaggi's promoter Lou DiBella told BoxingScene.com that he plans to file documents to request a hearing. He says the weigh-in was closed off to the public, but there were at least 100 or more Khan supporters in force. DiBella wants the New York State Athletic Commission to review the video of the weigh-in and to issue suspensions and fines upon Khan and any team members who were responsible for the incident.

"I've always gotten along with Golden Boy. I don't blame them because they didn't understand what was going to happen. I walked into the weigh-in with 25 people and you saw how many people [Khan] had. They created a dangerous situation. What would have happened if the weigh-in was held in the Madison Square Garden and a few hundred Americans were there watching? We would have had a full blown riot," DiBella said to BoxingScene.com.

"Khan and his followers did themselves a great disservice. He will never be a star in the United States, never."

DiBella says Khan struck the first blow when he shoved Malignaggi, igniting the entire situation [which is clearly seen during BoxingScene.com's exclusive weigh-in video]. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer says DiBella contributed to the situation when he egged Malignaggi on to continue hurling insults at Khan, and Khan's manager, Asif Vali, claims Malignaggi kicked Khan, which led to the shove.

"I was standing right there. And Lou DiBella, Paulie Malignaggi's promoter, was like, egging Malignaggi on, and then one thing led to another. And I saw that Malignaggi grabbed Amir Khan's neck, and then, people started pushing, and then, like I said, one thing led to another," said Schaefer.

"But thank God, nobody got injured, and everything is alright. I did walk Amir up to his room. You know, it's really personal now, between these two fighters. It's really emotional for Amir Khan. As they say in England, 'Put a number on it.' He's really going to go after a knockout against [Malignaggi.]"

Khan's trainer, Freddie Roach, told BoxingScene the New York State Athletic Commission needs to stop posing the fighters when there is a lot bad blood involved. Any time two fighters with a serious dislike are posed close, a physical situation is likely to happen, says Roach.

"If the [New York State Athletic Commission] doesn't want that to happen, don't pose the fighters," said Roach. "Because if you're going to pose two fighters together this close to a fight with this kind of intensity, that's going to happen 95 percent of the time because these two guys are on the edge."

Malignaggi admits to throwing a few kicks but they were thrown after Khan had shoved him and then everything went out of control. He sides with his promoter, and says the weigh-in was closed off to the public, but there were dozens of supporters wearing "Khan's Army" t-shirts.

"We were talking sh**. It was typical sh** talking, he shoved me, and then I shoved him back. Well, actually, I didn't have time to shove him back," said Malignaggi to BoxingScene.com. "I tried to kick him in his leg, I threw some kicks, or whatever, but I was being pulled backward by somebody who grabbed me from behind. I don't know what happened after that, you probably know better than me. After that, it just turned into a melee."

"This problem happened because this was supposed to be a weigh-in that was closed to the public, but they went ahead and only let his public in. This wouldn't have happened if they had closed it to his people. They said that the were going to close the weigh in to the public, but then, they let his people in. Otherwise, I would have had my fans here. But they closed it to the public and then let all of his fans in. This is the problem. Otherwise, the stage wouldn't have gotten invaded, and he wouldn't have had so much balls, otherwise."

Schaefer said the talking is now done and the two fighters will settle their differences in the ring.

"You can't and you shouldn't plan for something like this to happen. But there has been a lot of talk going on between these two fighters throughout the promotion, and I think that, with one day to go for the fight, everything is sort of like at the boiling point, as it should be," said Schaefer.

"But tomorrow night, they're going to face each other in the ring. And all of that talk doesn't matter any more. I can see that they really don't like each other. So I believe that you will see all of that build up, I'm sure, is going to be carried into the ring."