IBF junior welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi will face Chris Fernandez on April 25 on the under card of the WBC super middleweight title bout between champion Carl Froch vs. Jermain Taylor at the Foxwood Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT. The “Magic Man” (25-2 5KO’s) from Brooklyn, New York has been defeated twice, in June 2006 he lost a unanimous decision to Miguel Cotto and his most recent loss to Ricky Hatton last November. His corner stopped the fight due to the punishment Malignaggi was taking in the 11th round. Malignaggi was upset and felt he could have continued and finish the scheduled twelve. I personally agree with his corner, Malignaggi was taking a lot of punishment from Hatton and it wasn’t competitive at all.
Despite losing to two mega stars, Malignaggi is ranked at number #8 in the IBF, so I am sure Malignaggi won’t have any trouble making Fernandez (16-6-1 9KO’s) disappear, I mean he is the Magic Man right…
I find this fight sad/
I really like and respect Paul Malignaggi a lot. I think he has been great for boxing and a great personality. Forgetaboutit, I’m from Brooklyn too.
Paul Malignaggi has two major issues that he cannot overcome and can only cause him to get badly hurt in the ring. Those accumulation of punches he has been taking is the stuff that causes the permanent brain damage and Paul Malignaggi has lots of heart. More heart than skills.
The BIG issue, why Paul Malignaggi needs to retire is that he lacks any meaningful punching power. I am not talking about one punch knockout power, but the power to hurt or even sting an opponent enough to keep them away. You can’t fight with only your legs and movement, you power enough for your opponent to respect your punch and to stop them from walking right through your punches.
As Paul Malignaggi has moved up in class, he has shown that he cannot keep his opponents from just walking through any punches Malignaggi has and Malignaggi has been getting up very badly. This is something that cannot be improved.
The other part is to make things worse with the absence of any punching power for Malignaggi, his hands are chronically hurting. This combination and Malignaggi’s big heart make be fearful of him getting seriously hurt.
Malignaggi is a great young man that deserves to have a full life.
Jon
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