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A rare HBO tripleheader from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City featured several young fighters with the hunger and determination to make names for themselves in the sport.
The main event saw the Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi (21-1, 5KOs) make his first return since a decision loss to Miguel Cotto last June, to win an easy unanimous ten-round decision over Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry (21-4-2, 10KOs).
Malignaggi's left jab was the story of the fight. He pumped the jab at such a high rate that he barely threw anything else in the arsenal. Cherry was never able to get past the jab, and when he did, he was unable to land anything clean. The quick feet of Malignaggi and ability to sense his surroundings by always keeping himself off the ropes played major roles in the win.
Cherry never took any chances until the final round when he went for broke as Paulie knew the fight was in the bag and coasted his way to victory. The scores were 98-92, 100-90 and 98-92.
A good win by Malignaggi, but not the kind of win to make fans scream for a fight between him and recognized junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton. Malignaggi is a not big puncher as most can tell by his record, so he has to do something different in the ring to make fans demand to see him again and again.
The problem for Malignaggi with throwing more power punches is his right hand. The right hand has been injured so many times that Malignaggi lost count. Countless medical procedure, surgeries and layoffs were attributed to the right hand. Against Cherry, he sparingly used his right hand and still managed to hurt it.
Against elite competition like Hatton, who knows how to get past a jab, Malignaggi will need to throw a lot more combinations if he wants to win. He will need to throw consistent combinations and throw a lot more body punches. A great left jab is a key weapon for any fighter in the sport. In the current era of boxing, a fighter needs a lot more than a left jab to win fights, and win fans. [details]
The main event saw the Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi (21-1, 5KOs) make his first return since a decision loss to Miguel Cotto last June, to win an easy unanimous ten-round decision over Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry (21-4-2, 10KOs).
Malignaggi's left jab was the story of the fight. He pumped the jab at such a high rate that he barely threw anything else in the arsenal. Cherry was never able to get past the jab, and when he did, he was unable to land anything clean. The quick feet of Malignaggi and ability to sense his surroundings by always keeping himself off the ropes played major roles in the win.
Cherry never took any chances until the final round when he went for broke as Paulie knew the fight was in the bag and coasted his way to victory. The scores were 98-92, 100-90 and 98-92.
A good win by Malignaggi, but not the kind of win to make fans scream for a fight between him and recognized junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton. Malignaggi is a not big puncher as most can tell by his record, so he has to do something different in the ring to make fans demand to see him again and again.
The problem for Malignaggi with throwing more power punches is his right hand. The right hand has been injured so many times that Malignaggi lost count. Countless medical procedure, surgeries and layoffs were attributed to the right hand. Against Cherry, he sparingly used his right hand and still managed to hurt it.
Against elite competition like Hatton, who knows how to get past a jab, Malignaggi will need to throw a lot more combinations if he wants to win. He will need to throw consistent combinations and throw a lot more body punches. A great left jab is a key weapon for any fighter in the sport. In the current era of boxing, a fighter needs a lot more than a left jab to win fights, and win fans. [details]