The Taming of Paulie Malignaggi: Boxing's great g***** sells out. Is that so bad?

Saw this article on grantland. It's always nice to see non boxing sites covering boxing. Basically goes through Malignaggi's personas and career. Does it matter that so many of the most memorable moments of the Brooklyn welterweight Paulie Malignaggi's career have been tangential to what the boxer has done in the ring? Sure, most reasonable fans will concede that Malignaggi is a skillful and crafty fighter, with sharp reflexes that he uses to slip incoming punches and score his own counters, an intelligent jab that he pumps out to keep opponents at a safe distance, and the ability to execute a game plan. They will probably also mention that for a boxer who has won championship belts on three separate occasions, he has managed to do so while possessing barely any knockout power.1 That means when Malignaggi wins, he usually does so by defusing the other guy's offense, by out-pointing him with volume punching, and by controlling the rhythm of a fight — the amorphous concept of "ring generalship." On Malignaggi's best nights, victory comes with little dazzle and less drama. Ahh, but Malignaggi knows drama, and he has always found ways to generate it without the potential thrill of a 10-count. During his first title run, Malignaggi enlivened bouts through pure outlandishness. He clowned in the ring against overmatched opponents; his array of boots and trunks and robes hinted at a taste for sequins and tassels and oddly layered skirts that wouldn't seem all that out of place in the Haus of Gaga; and his hairstyles have run a gamut unlike any other in a sport where hideous coiffures are so common that one blog created a semiannual award for "the worst haircut in boxing." Throughout his almost 13-year professional career, we've seen Malignaggi go from Pauly D blowout to ****ed, frosted tips (like a bleached-orange Sonic the Hedgehog) to a peach-fuzz baldie decorated with constellations of shaved-in swirls and designs that would make Metta World Peace proud. The undisputed high point of Malignaggi's follicular Odyssey came in 2008, when he fought Lovemore Ndou2 with a head full of braided extensions that made him look like the Italian American love child of Milli Vanilli and Medusa. (Halfway through the fight, Malignaggi's trainers had to chop off the snarled weave, which was impairing his vision, so Paulie could eke out a split decision.) More recently, when he has entered the ring with simple cornrows or a red-tinged faux-hawk, it has been interpreted as a sign of Malignaggi's mature, veteran stature in boxing. Paulie Malignaggi http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/1209/grant_g_malignaggi_b1_576x324.jpg Over the years, Malignaggi swapped personas, always searching for an angle that might turn him into a star, the kind of draw boxing insiders call an "A-side." These are the fighters whose presence on a bout sheet sells tickets and attracts viewers, and not coincidentally it's these fighters who attract the most powerful promoters, who earn the biggest purses, and who tend to get favorable treatment from judges when fights go to scorecards. Floyd Mayweather is the A-side against any opponent, Manny Pacquiao is the A-side against pretty much anyone except Floyd, and so on down the line. To make himself a bankable attraction, Malignaggi tried playing a classic villain — the ****y, trash-talking, slick boxer. Then, during the height of Jersey Shore mania, Malignaggi played up the guido culture angle (not a huge stretch for him) and inspired the writer Hamilton Nolan to describe him as "the Situation with a more offensive haircut." These characters, combined with Malignaggi's skilled boxing, did improve his station in the sport. He fought for titles and managed to win one; he appeared on HBO. But when Paulie got the big fights, like those against Cotto and Hatton, he was the B-side — the opponent brought in to put up a game effort and then lose. In August 2009, Malignaggi played the opponent role3 for rising Mexican American star Juan Diaz. The bout was seen as a kind of get-well match for Diaz, a busy, nonstop brawler who had recently suffered the first knockout loss of his career against Juan Manuel Marquez. Fighting in Diaz's hometown, the light-punching Malignaggi came in as the underdog and outboxed the favorite. HBO's unofficial judge, Harold Lederman, along with many boxing fans, believed Paulie won a close fight with his movement and his jab. Then the scores came in — a unanimous decision for Diaz, including one scorecard that had Malignaggi winning only two rounds. In the moments that followed, Paulie discovered the star character he'd been searching for, and it was basically himself: a quintessential New York smartass who would say exactly what he felt like saying, at all times. When Max Kellerman entered the ring for a post-fight interview and asked, "What are your thoughts?" Malignaggi launched into an apoplectic harangue, railing not only against the decision but the entire sport. I'm telling you, this state never gives a fair shake to anybody coming to this state to fight hometown fighters. It never happens. All the way back to Pernell Whitaker–Chavez, it never happens … Boxing is full of ****, man! I used to love this sport. I cannot stand doing this. The only reason I do this is 'cause it gives me a good payday. Boxing is full of ****. Every ****ing fight … I'm just an opponent after losing the fight. Juan can go call out the winner of Marquez and Mayweather, or the winner of another big fight. I don't have that luxury 'cause I got robbed so I'm on the short end of the stick. So I gotta sit back and hope I get used as an opponent in somebody's hometown again. This is the bull**** I gotta go through. Take a look at the rest of the article http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10109067/paulie-malignaggi-truth-telling-boxing