Tweet
Didn't see this one posted
by Geoffrey Ciani - Last December, Paulie Malignaggi avenged his controversial loss against Juan Diaz in impressive fashion. Malignaggi controlled the fight by effectively using the ring which prevented Diaz from mounting any meaningful attacks on offense. This victory helped reestablish Malignaggi as a major player in the junior welterweight division. He was duly rewarded for his efforts by landing a title shot against reigning WBA champion Amir Khan. I was recently afforded the opportunity to have a nice chat with Paulie and here is what he had to say:
Q: Paulie, on May 15 you are challenging Amir Khan for the WBA junior welterweight championship of the world. How do you think you match up against Khan?
A: I think it’s a solid match-up, I think we have similar strengths. I think my level of opposition has been higher than his but I really think level of opposition sometimes can be overrated. If you can fight, you can fight no matter who you’ve fought so I don’t really count Amir’s level of opposition against him. I’ve seen him on video, and yeah—he can fight. So I’m going have to come prepared on May 15, but having said that, I believe we’re putting a good game plan in place and we’ll be ready for whatever they got..
Audio:
Q: A lot of observers in the boxing community have noted that the reason Khan chose you as an opponent is because of your lack of punching power. If this, indeed, is their mindset do you think they’re making a mistake?
A: Yeah. Oh, obviously I would have to think that if that’s the mindset, yeah, that would be a mistake because obviously I wouldn’t like to think of myself as a guy Khan’s going to beat. But having said that, I just think anytime in boxing that somebody can punch—automatically they get crowned as a superstar or they get crowned as a king before really getting on the throne and you’ve seen it over and over and time and time again. You saw it a few years back with Francisco Bojado. He was getting a bunch of knockouts and everybody made like he was the next heir to the throne and we saw what happened there. We saw it recently with Victor Ortiz getting a bunch of knockouts, he was the next heir to the throne, and we saw what happened there. Now Marcos Maidana, a bunch of knockouts—he’s the next heir to the throne. The one common denominator in all of this is that every time these guys can punch they have nothing else to back themselves up with, and when you have nothing else to back yourself up with eventually that’s going to catch up with you. Yeah, it’s nice to have a big punch, and yeah, a big punch gets you out of a lot of bad situations and can win you a lot of fights but ultimately, to become an elite fighter you need more than just a big punch. You need multiple weapons. Yeah, I may not have the big punch but I have multiple weapons at my disposal and I believe I got what it takes to beat Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana, and whoever else they put in front of me—especially now. I really felt like the missing link was having a trainer like Sharif Younan in my corner. I think ever since I’ve gotten with Sharif I’ve proven my point. I’ve proven my point, and the point was that me and Buddy McGirt were not a good mix. I think that was the final link and the final piece to the puzzle. Unfortunately I may have found it later in my career. So that doesn’t bode well for any opponents who fight me at this point in my career, but at the same time, it probably doesn’t bode too well for me because it probably means I won’t ever get the respect I deserve and the respect that my skills command.
Q: This fight is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden and this will be your first fight in New York since you beat Edner Cherry there over three years ago. How does it feel for you to be fighting in New York again?
A: It’s actually really exciting, man. I’ve got a lot of support in New York. I’m born in Brooklyn, I’m a New Yorker. I’ve been spending my time between New York and Florida in the past couple of years, but I still have a lot of family and supportive friends in New York and I came back and train in New York now being the Sharif, my trainer, is from New York. Having said that, it’s always exciting to fight in front of a New York crowd—it’s always exciting to fight at Madison Square Garden, more than anything and I got the opportunity to do that. I got to really give Khan credit there because he really wanted to come to New York and fight me and a lot of fighters wouldn’t take that chance and they might not take that chance. Ricky Hatton, for example, didn’t take that chance when he was supposed to fight me a couple of years ago. He had the option of fighting me at the Garden but he chose to fight me in Vegas so I got to really give Amir props and credit for coming to New York and taking me on. Obviously, like I said before, I believe he’s making the wrong choice in fighting me, but having said that, he still deserves credit for coming to New York and taking me on because he’s been supported very well in England and this is going to be the first time that he’s really going to have a crowd that’s not supporting him.
Q: This will also be Khan’s first fight in America. Do you think that the added pressure of that and the fact that you’re fighting in your hometown in New York might have an impact on his performance?
A: I’d like to think he’s a real pro in every way so it won’t impact him, but I do believe this will be the first time he’s fighting in front of a crowd that’s not pro-Khan. I mean, but then again, as a professional with almost 25 fights he should already understand and that shouldn’t affect him mentally in any way. Of course, you never know. I can only speak for myself. I’ll come in prepared mentally and physically for the fight, I can’t really speak for how Amir Khan is going to show up. The only thing I am sure of is he’s not going to be fighting in front of a pro-Khan crowd.
Q: When we last had you “On the Ropes”, you mentioned a strong desire to face Ricky Hatton again. If you beat Khan, is this a fight you’re still interested in having?
A: Yeah, absolutely—without a shadow of a doubt. I know why Ricky Hatton beat me. Ricky Hatton beat me because I was with the wrong trainer for two years—no ifs, ands, or buts about it—and I think every performance I’ve had since the Ricky Hatton fight with a new trainer proves my point more and more. It has nothing to do with Ricky Hatton’s punch power because he has none. He’s an average 140 pound puncher. It has nothing to do with anything else but the fact that I had the wrong trainer training me for two years. By that point, it was the culmination of a two year ride where I had been disintegrated to nothing as a fighter. Even if I had fought Ricky earlier in my tenure with Buddy I would have beaten Ricky, but by two years, everything had affected me already—the work in the gym, the lack of being sharp, the lack of getting me sharp—in two years of training that way, you’re going to be destroyed as a fighter. I think it’s pretty obvious that the performances were slipping little by little every time I fought with Buddy but nobody wants to really admit to that. Everybody just wants to say oh, Ricky was too strong, Ricky was too this, Ricky was too that—Ricky wasn’t too anything, actually. Ricky wasn’t too anything at all.
Ricky Hatton should send a Christmas card to Buddy McGirt every single year blessing him for the fact that he got to fight Manny Pacquiao and make that last payday, because he should have never been in that fight because he should have never beaten me. But having said that, yeah again—every time I mention Ricky Hatton I don’t want it to be brought out there that maybe I’m disrespecting him, because I’m really speaking as a competitor more than anything because competition sometimes could get ugly, but at the end of the day, I really respect Ricky, his family, his team, and everything. He was always a good person to me and he was always a standup guy, but having said that, I’m speaking from a competitive standpoint and from a competitive standpoint, that’s how I feel.
by Geoffrey Ciani - Last December, Paulie Malignaggi avenged his controversial loss against Juan Diaz in impressive fashion. Malignaggi controlled the fight by effectively using the ring which prevented Diaz from mounting any meaningful attacks on offense. This victory helped reestablish Malignaggi as a major player in the junior welterweight division. He was duly rewarded for his efforts by landing a title shot against reigning WBA champion Amir Khan. I was recently afforded the opportunity to have a nice chat with Paulie and here is what he had to say:
Q: Paulie, on May 15 you are challenging Amir Khan for the WBA junior welterweight championship of the world. How do you think you match up against Khan?
A: I think it’s a solid match-up, I think we have similar strengths. I think my level of opposition has been higher than his but I really think level of opposition sometimes can be overrated. If you can fight, you can fight no matter who you’ve fought so I don’t really count Amir’s level of opposition against him. I’ve seen him on video, and yeah—he can fight. So I’m going have to come prepared on May 15, but having said that, I believe we’re putting a good game plan in place and we’ll be ready for whatever they got..
Audio:
Q: A lot of observers in the boxing community have noted that the reason Khan chose you as an opponent is because of your lack of punching power. If this, indeed, is their mindset do you think they’re making a mistake?
A: Yeah. Oh, obviously I would have to think that if that’s the mindset, yeah, that would be a mistake because obviously I wouldn’t like to think of myself as a guy Khan’s going to beat. But having said that, I just think anytime in boxing that somebody can punch—automatically they get crowned as a superstar or they get crowned as a king before really getting on the throne and you’ve seen it over and over and time and time again. You saw it a few years back with Francisco Bojado. He was getting a bunch of knockouts and everybody made like he was the next heir to the throne and we saw what happened there. We saw it recently with Victor Ortiz getting a bunch of knockouts, he was the next heir to the throne, and we saw what happened there. Now Marcos Maidana, a bunch of knockouts—he’s the next heir to the throne. The one common denominator in all of this is that every time these guys can punch they have nothing else to back themselves up with, and when you have nothing else to back yourself up with eventually that’s going to catch up with you. Yeah, it’s nice to have a big punch, and yeah, a big punch gets you out of a lot of bad situations and can win you a lot of fights but ultimately, to become an elite fighter you need more than just a big punch. You need multiple weapons. Yeah, I may not have the big punch but I have multiple weapons at my disposal and I believe I got what it takes to beat Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana, and whoever else they put in front of me—especially now. I really felt like the missing link was having a trainer like Sharif Younan in my corner. I think ever since I’ve gotten with Sharif I’ve proven my point. I’ve proven my point, and the point was that me and Buddy McGirt were not a good mix. I think that was the final link and the final piece to the puzzle. Unfortunately I may have found it later in my career. So that doesn’t bode well for any opponents who fight me at this point in my career, but at the same time, it probably doesn’t bode too well for me because it probably means I won’t ever get the respect I deserve and the respect that my skills command.
Q: This fight is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden and this will be your first fight in New York since you beat Edner Cherry there over three years ago. How does it feel for you to be fighting in New York again?
A: It’s actually really exciting, man. I’ve got a lot of support in New York. I’m born in Brooklyn, I’m a New Yorker. I’ve been spending my time between New York and Florida in the past couple of years, but I still have a lot of family and supportive friends in New York and I came back and train in New York now being the Sharif, my trainer, is from New York. Having said that, it’s always exciting to fight in front of a New York crowd—it’s always exciting to fight at Madison Square Garden, more than anything and I got the opportunity to do that. I got to really give Khan credit there because he really wanted to come to New York and fight me and a lot of fighters wouldn’t take that chance and they might not take that chance. Ricky Hatton, for example, didn’t take that chance when he was supposed to fight me a couple of years ago. He had the option of fighting me at the Garden but he chose to fight me in Vegas so I got to really give Amir props and credit for coming to New York and taking me on. Obviously, like I said before, I believe he’s making the wrong choice in fighting me, but having said that, he still deserves credit for coming to New York and taking me on because he’s been supported very well in England and this is going to be the first time that he’s really going to have a crowd that’s not supporting him.
Q: This will also be Khan’s first fight in America. Do you think that the added pressure of that and the fact that you’re fighting in your hometown in New York might have an impact on his performance?
A: I’d like to think he’s a real pro in every way so it won’t impact him, but I do believe this will be the first time he’s fighting in front of a crowd that’s not pro-Khan. I mean, but then again, as a professional with almost 25 fights he should already understand and that shouldn’t affect him mentally in any way. Of course, you never know. I can only speak for myself. I’ll come in prepared mentally and physically for the fight, I can’t really speak for how Amir Khan is going to show up. The only thing I am sure of is he’s not going to be fighting in front of a pro-Khan crowd.
Q: When we last had you “On the Ropes”, you mentioned a strong desire to face Ricky Hatton again. If you beat Khan, is this a fight you’re still interested in having?
A: Yeah, absolutely—without a shadow of a doubt. I know why Ricky Hatton beat me. Ricky Hatton beat me because I was with the wrong trainer for two years—no ifs, ands, or buts about it—and I think every performance I’ve had since the Ricky Hatton fight with a new trainer proves my point more and more. It has nothing to do with Ricky Hatton’s punch power because he has none. He’s an average 140 pound puncher. It has nothing to do with anything else but the fact that I had the wrong trainer training me for two years. By that point, it was the culmination of a two year ride where I had been disintegrated to nothing as a fighter. Even if I had fought Ricky earlier in my tenure with Buddy I would have beaten Ricky, but by two years, everything had affected me already—the work in the gym, the lack of being sharp, the lack of getting me sharp—in two years of training that way, you’re going to be destroyed as a fighter. I think it’s pretty obvious that the performances were slipping little by little every time I fought with Buddy but nobody wants to really admit to that. Everybody just wants to say oh, Ricky was too strong, Ricky was too this, Ricky was too that—Ricky wasn’t too anything, actually. Ricky wasn’t too anything at all.
Ricky Hatton should send a Christmas card to Buddy McGirt every single year blessing him for the fact that he got to fight Manny Pacquiao and make that last payday, because he should have never been in that fight because he should have never beaten me. But having said that, yeah again—every time I mention Ricky Hatton I don’t want it to be brought out there that maybe I’m disrespecting him, because I’m really speaking as a competitor more than anything because competition sometimes could get ugly, but at the end of the day, I really respect Ricky, his family, his team, and everything. He was always a good person to me and he was always a standup guy, but having said that, I’m speaking from a competitive standpoint and from a competitive standpoint, that’s how I feel.
Comment