By Edward Chaykovsky

Former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi (36-7, 7 KOs) is still very motivated to capture the European welterweight title - and he wants the fight to take place in New York City.

Ceferino Rodriguez (24-1, 12 KOs) of Spain is the EBU champion. He captured the title last month with a twelve round split decision over Ahmed El Mousaoui. Rodriguez has won six in a row since suffering his only career defeat back in April of 2015.

"I'm in talks to fight Rodriguez for the EBU title, we are trying to make that happen at the moment and going through the motions - we're in contact with his team," Malignaggi told Sky Sports.

Malignaggi has been out of the ring since winning a twelve round unanimous decision over Gabe Bracero last July at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Prior to the Bracero win, Malignaggi was campaigning to get an EBU title shot by traveling overseas to pick up wins in the UK and Italy.

At the moment Malignaggi's team is focused on luring Rodriguez to New York, but everything will depend on the financial terms.

"We are just trying to figure out the status of the contest and have spoken to the EBU about it taking place in the States. As long as all the officials - the ref, judges and supervisors - are European then the title can be disputed outside of Europe," Malignaggi said.

"Money is the big bargaining chip and we are just waiting to see if there is more money to do it in the States. If the New York commission cooperates then New York is a big possibility."