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On Saturday night at their competing pay-per-view shows, Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver and Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi were craving respect.
In the eyes of Tarver, his career’s work was tremendously underappreciated, even after revenging each of his three losses and attaining recognition as the true light heavyweight champion – Zsolt Erdei’s lineal claim notwithstanding.
Despite these feats, Tarver saw a major discrepancy between his beliefs and the positioning he was given, whether he was too low in the mythical pound-for-pound ratings or placed on the right side of the screen – as opposed to the left – in a shared television interview with opponent Bernard Hopkins.
While Tarver wanted respect for his past accomplishments, Malignaggi argued that he should receive it for what he was about to do – take a gigantic step up in opposition by challenging Miguel Cotto.
Whether Malignaggi is brash or just extremely confident, there was nothing in his five years as a professional – neither the names on his ledger nor the five knockouts in 21 victories – to suggest that the unproven prospect could upset the battle-tested contender. [details]
In the eyes of Tarver, his career’s work was tremendously underappreciated, even after revenging each of his three losses and attaining recognition as the true light heavyweight champion – Zsolt Erdei’s lineal claim notwithstanding.
Despite these feats, Tarver saw a major discrepancy between his beliefs and the positioning he was given, whether he was too low in the mythical pound-for-pound ratings or placed on the right side of the screen – as opposed to the left – in a shared television interview with opponent Bernard Hopkins.
While Tarver wanted respect for his past accomplishments, Malignaggi argued that he should receive it for what he was about to do – take a gigantic step up in opposition by challenging Miguel Cotto.
Whether Malignaggi is brash or just extremely confident, there was nothing in his five years as a professional – neither the names on his ledger nor the five knockouts in 21 victories – to suggest that the unproven prospect could upset the battle-tested contender. [details]