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Paulie doesn’t necessarily want a cracker.
As a general rule, power punchers are the ideal foils for slick stylists. Paulie Malignaggi clearly fits the latter description, with strategy and speed compensating for an acknowledged paucity of pop. But if Cory Spinks is comfortable enough to line up under center and brave the blitz, then Malignaggi sets up in the ******* and throws little but quick slant passes.
Three years ago, Spinks stayed in the pocket and outboxed Ricardo Mayorga. On Saturday, Malignaggi took a more cautious approach against Edner Cherry. Fending off Cherry’s bombs may have been sweet science for Malignaggi, but mixing the two styles brought a surprising absence of chemistry and a humdrum lack of combustion.
“I made it boring sometimes, but I felt like that was the way to go tonight,” Malignaggi said in a post-fight interview. “If I made it exciting with this guy, it would’ve gave him a chance to hurt me and possibly knock me out.”
Malignaggi generally talks a good game, but this version of “the Magic Man” was honest and modest, a stark contrast from the machismo he usually oozes in interviews. But there he was, the pretty boy whose win wasn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing – and perhaps that’s why his typically brash persona was persona non grata.
It’s clear that Malignaggi still feels the sting from last year’s decision loss to Miguel Cotto, a defeat that left the Brooklynite bruised both outside and in. The swelling is gone, the damaged orbital bone repaired, but Malignaggi is still rebuilding his pride.
“Coming off the last fight, which was a very physical fight, I felt like I needed to show a little bit more boxing and just make sure I had everything together and make sure mentally I came back the right way,” he said.
“I had to make it a little exciting sometimes, but sometimes I guess the situation doesn’t warrant it. I felt like I was holding him off with the jab the right way because he was overexerting himself at times, so I felt like the jab, I could just walk him into it and pace myself.”
Of the 168 punches Malignaggi landed, 103 were jabs. Cherry, who tends to fight at lightweight and who made the junior welterweight limit with ease, still packed enough punch at 140 that a Cherry right hook behind the ear and a few flush left hooks had Malignaggi backpedaling for a majority of the tenth and final stanza. Thus the jab was essential for creating distance, and it kept Cherry honest despite Malignaggi’s inability to inflict damage. [details]
As a general rule, power punchers are the ideal foils for slick stylists. Paulie Malignaggi clearly fits the latter description, with strategy and speed compensating for an acknowledged paucity of pop. But if Cory Spinks is comfortable enough to line up under center and brave the blitz, then Malignaggi sets up in the ******* and throws little but quick slant passes.
Three years ago, Spinks stayed in the pocket and outboxed Ricardo Mayorga. On Saturday, Malignaggi took a more cautious approach against Edner Cherry. Fending off Cherry’s bombs may have been sweet science for Malignaggi, but mixing the two styles brought a surprising absence of chemistry and a humdrum lack of combustion.
“I made it boring sometimes, but I felt like that was the way to go tonight,” Malignaggi said in a post-fight interview. “If I made it exciting with this guy, it would’ve gave him a chance to hurt me and possibly knock me out.”
Malignaggi generally talks a good game, but this version of “the Magic Man” was honest and modest, a stark contrast from the machismo he usually oozes in interviews. But there he was, the pretty boy whose win wasn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing – and perhaps that’s why his typically brash persona was persona non grata.
It’s clear that Malignaggi still feels the sting from last year’s decision loss to Miguel Cotto, a defeat that left the Brooklynite bruised both outside and in. The swelling is gone, the damaged orbital bone repaired, but Malignaggi is still rebuilding his pride.
“Coming off the last fight, which was a very physical fight, I felt like I needed to show a little bit more boxing and just make sure I had everything together and make sure mentally I came back the right way,” he said.
“I had to make it a little exciting sometimes, but sometimes I guess the situation doesn’t warrant it. I felt like I was holding him off with the jab the right way because he was overexerting himself at times, so I felt like the jab, I could just walk him into it and pace myself.”
Of the 168 punches Malignaggi landed, 103 were jabs. Cherry, who tends to fight at lightweight and who made the junior welterweight limit with ease, still packed enough punch at 140 that a Cherry right hook behind the ear and a few flush left hooks had Malignaggi backpedaling for a majority of the tenth and final stanza. Thus the jab was essential for creating distance, and it kept Cherry honest despite Malignaggi’s inability to inflict damage. [details]