By Thomas Gerbasi

NEW YORK – For perhaps the first time in his nearly nine year career, former world champion Paulie Malignaggi met someone faster than him in the form of WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan, and what resulted over the ensuing 11-plus rounds Saturday night was a one-sided assault from the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist from Great Britain, who defended his crown impressively in his Stateside debut at The Theater in Madison Square Garden.

“I used my speed, power, and jab,” said Khan, who defended his title for the second time, both over New Yorkers (the first was over Dmitriy Salita in December). “The jab worked for me, and everything came off the jab.”

And everything was too much for Malignaggi, whose heart was never in doubt during the fight, but who was just a step behind Khan all night, resulting in a disappointing evening for his supporters, but a great one for the legion of Khan fans both from New York and England.

The first half of the opening round was fought at close quarters, with Malignaggi banging to Khan’s body on the inside, but in the second half of the frame, the champion began to find his range and he drilled the Brooklynite with several hard punches from long range, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Khan, cool under pressure, continued to sharp shoot from a distance in round two, as Malignaggi tried to close the distance and make it a brawl, but with little effectiveness. By the final minute, Malignaggi’s face was starting to show the wear of battle, but with a brief showboating display, he showed that he wasn’t done yet.

Malignaggi came out fast for the third round and landed a couple of shots that finally got Khan’s attention. Khan was undeterred from his fight plan though, again showing poise when things got hectic at close range. By the end of the round, both fighters seemed to have worn off the early-fight adrenalin, and were settling in for the next chapter of their tale.

Round four began with chants of “Paulie, Paulie”, as the local crowd tried to rally their man. Khan was unrattled and was able to produce some cheers of his own as he landed with more hard shots as the round progressed, giving him the edge once again.

The fighters traded low blows in the opening minute of the fifth round, and it was the most significant action of a tactical round that was closed strong by Khan, who was starting to run away with the fight.

In rounds six through ten, Khan started to close the distance even more with his straight punches as he widened the gap on the scorecards and made ringsiders wonder when a stoppage from referee Steve Smoger or the Malignaggi corner would takes place, especially considering the one-sided nature of the bout thus far and that the New Yorker doesn’t have a home run punch in his arsenal.

To Malignaggi’s credit, he didn’t stop trying to make something happen, but on this night it wasn’t going to be, and he was forced to ask the ringside physician for one more round before the bell sounded for the 11th frame. He was granted that round, but there weren’t going to be any miracles on 33rd street, as it was Khan who continued to attack, finally forcing referee Steve Smoger to halt the bout at 1:25 of the 11th round.

With the win, Khan improves to 23-1 with 17 KOs; Malignaggi falls to 27-4 with 5 KOs.

38-year old former lightweight champion Nate Campbell looked every day of those 38 years in his co-feature bout against junior welterweight contender Victor Ortiz, and he can thank the Californian for that, as Ortiz used movement and a workmanlike attack to pound out a near shutout 10 round decision win.

The unanimous verdict read 100-89 twice, and 99-90 for Ortiz, who has now won three in a row since his upset six round TKO loss to Marcos Maidana in June of 2009.

Campbell came out as the aggressor, a tactic which suited Ortiz just fine as he countered effectively while bouncing around the ring, forcing Campbell to use his legs. At the end of the round, Ortiz pushed Campbell, forcing his gloves to the canvas, and referee Earl Brown ruled it a knockdown, a questionable call at best.

In round two, Campbell looked to make up for the previous round, but again, the faster and more accurate Ortiz made him pay for each moment of hesitation, and by the end of the round, the former lightweight champion was showing a mouse under his left eye.

A determined Ortiz added some inside work in the third and fourth frames, and nothing changed from the previous two, as he was just too fast for Campbell, who complained of a hip injury suffered in the third round.

Campbell continued to try his best to turn the fight into a brawl in the fifth round, but was having little luck doing that, and outside of wild right hand haymakers that whizzed by Ortiz’ head, there was nothing significant coming from “The Galaxxy Warrior” offensively.

After six rounds, Ortiz had built a sizeable lead and was simply toying with Campbell, who kept trying to win, but who just wasn’t able to get his punches off consistently against his 23-year old foe.

In round nine, Ortiz even let Campbell tee off for a bit at close quarters before ripping off a series of combinations in return. Campbell was encouraged by the exchange though, as he landed with a solid shot to the head moments later that got Ortiz’ attention and counted as his best punch of the fight thus far.

Campbell’s all-too brief surge was too little too late though, as Ortiz got back
to boxing in the final round, capping off a solid, yet unspectacular, victory.

With the win, Ortiz improves to 27-2-1, with 21 KOs; Campbell falls to 33-6-1  with 25 KOs and 1 NC. It was his first defeat since a 2006 loss to Isaac Hlatshwayo.

NON-TELEVISED UNDERCARD RESULTS

Rising middleweight star Daniel Jacobs got an easy one in his New York homecoming, halting overmatched Juan Astorga in two rounds to retain his NABO title and win the NABF strap.

There was little drama in this one. Jacobs sent Astorga to the canvas twice in round one and if not for a break to replace the Brownfield, Texas resident’s mouthpiece – which was sent flying by Jacobs – the fight probably would have ended in the opening stanza.

30 seconds into the second, a body shot sent Astorga to a knee, and though he rose, he was put right back on the canvas, prompting referee Benji Esteves to halt the bout at the 51 second mark.

With the win, Jacobs improves to 20-0 with 17 KOs; Astorga falls to 14-5-1 with
9 KOs.

In a clash of unbeaten heavyweights, New York’s Tor Hamer suffered his first pro loss at the hands of Pensacola’s Kelvin Price, who used a second round knockdown to propel him to a six round split decision win.

Scores were 58-55 twice, and 56-57 for Price, who improves to 7-0 with 4 KOs; Hamer falls to 11-1 with 8 KOs.

After a slow first round, as the 6- foot 2 Hamer tried to come to grips with the size of the 6-7 Price, a fight broke out in the second, and the local favorite seemed to be in control until a short left hook by Price caught Hamer and sent him into the ropes, with referee Benji Esteves calling the sequence a knockdown.

Hamer recovered quickly, finished the round strong and continued to go on the attack in the third and fourth frames. Hamer’s busy attack was carrying the action, but Price was not backing down, keeping the fight interesting as he ripped off sporadic 1-2s that kept his opponent honest.

In round five, Hamer took his foot off the gas a bit, allowing Price to land long-range shots that suited his frame. The final frame was hard to call, as both unbeatens left it in the ring in the hopes of keeping that “0”. But in the end, it was Price doing enough to win the six rounder, scoring a minor upset in the process.

In a welterweight bout, Colombian banger Breidis Prescott broke down and then halted Washington State’s Jason Davis, who was forced to retire at the 1:11 mark of round three with a hip injury.

Prescott (22-2, 19 KOs), best remembered for his first round knockout of main eventer Amir Khan in September of 2008, broke a two fight losing streak with two body shot induced knockdowns of Davis (11-7-1, 3 KOs), who gripped his side after each trip to the canvas, prompting referee Benji Esteves to end the bout in the third.

Former Irish amateur star Jamie Kavanagh entered the pro ranks with a second round TKO of game, but overmatched, William Ware (1-3, 1 KOs) in junior welterweight action. The Freddie Roach-trained Dublin native put Ware on the deck once in round one and twice in the second before referee Sparkle Lee called a halt to the action at the 1:39 mark of round two.

In the middleweight opener, New Jersey southpaw Dennis “Momma’s Boy” Douglin improved to 9-0 (5 KOs) with an impressive second round TKO of Trenton’s Joshua Onyango. In control from the start, Douglin dropped Onyango twice in round two, with the second knockdown prompting an immediate stoppage from referee Sparkle Lee at the 1:10 mark.