I scored this a draw, with Ngoudjo getting slightly the better of the first half of the fight, Malignaggi just barely doing enough to tilt it back to even terms in the later rounds. I wasn't massively impressed by either guy on the night.
If forced to choose a winner, I'd give it to Herman by dint of that dominant 7th.
On that showing, Malignaggi would need to hope that Ricky will be carrying some extreme mental damage back from Undefeated if they fight.
That said, I think the Paulie Malignaggi who would come in to fight Ricky Hatton would be the best Paulie Malignaggi possible.
Either way, I have a lot of admiration for Paulie and find the pockets of hate that exist for him bewildering..it's as if some are struggling to see past that high-pitched rat-a-tat-tat fight-hype style.
The guy goes into every fight knowing it will go the distance, takes a lot of guts to fight that way, on skill, no big weapons. His views on the sport are consistently interesting and elucidative. And he is a genuinely nice guy. What's to dislike, really?
Should Paulie and Hatton meet, I'll feel compelled to pull for The Magic Man.
And there is still no reason why they shouldn't meet, even after the less than stellar showing Saturday night.
Hatton has taken fights with Maussa (on the strength of knocking out Harris) and Urango (on the strength of 15 fights unbeaten) in the last 2+ years, so why not Paulie on the strength of his 3 performances before the Ngoudjo fight?
If forced to choose a winner, I'd give it to Herman by dint of that dominant 7th.
On that showing, Malignaggi would need to hope that Ricky will be carrying some extreme mental damage back from Undefeated if they fight.
That said, I think the Paulie Malignaggi who would come in to fight Ricky Hatton would be the best Paulie Malignaggi possible.
Either way, I have a lot of admiration for Paulie and find the pockets of hate that exist for him bewildering..it's as if some are struggling to see past that high-pitched rat-a-tat-tat fight-hype style.
The guy goes into every fight knowing it will go the distance, takes a lot of guts to fight that way, on skill, no big weapons. His views on the sport are consistently interesting and elucidative. And he is a genuinely nice guy. What's to dislike, really?
Should Paulie and Hatton meet, I'll feel compelled to pull for The Magic Man.
And there is still no reason why they shouldn't meet, even after the less than stellar showing Saturday night.
Hatton has taken fights with Maussa (on the strength of knocking out Harris) and Urango (on the strength of 15 fights unbeaten) in the last 2+ years, so why not Paulie on the strength of his 3 performances before the Ngoudjo fight?

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