Paulie Malignaggi Speaks

5
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Welterweight Fighting This Saturday!

Former World Champion Paulie Malignaggi shadow boxes on April 6, 2011 during a media workout in Las Vegas. Photo by Gene Blevins/Hogan Photos

Brooklyn’s Paulie Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KOs) will take on Puerto Rico’s Jose Cotto (32-2-1, 24 KOs) this Saturday on the undercard of the Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana “Action Heroes” main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

I caught up with the “Magic Man,” who has moved to the Left Coast to train at the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. Now fighting at welterweight, Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KOs) will go toe to toe with Miguel Cotto’s brother, Jose Miguel (32-2-1, 24 KOs).

Besides moving up in weight, Paulie made the big move out west as he’s settling into a SoCal way of life. Just how strong is his allegiance to his new adopted hometown?

At this week’s “Action Heroes” grand arrival in Las Vegas, Malignaggi was seen proudly rockin’ an L.A. Lakers cap and a #15 jersey paying tribute to Laker forward (and boxing fan) Ron Artest. Already bleedin’ Purple and Gold!

How does this loyal New Yorker fare in a state known for its picture-perfect weather and kickback lifestyle?

Very well, thank you.

I had a chance to catch up with Paulie at a recent World Series of Boxing (WSB) event at the Avalon in the heart of Tinseltown.

The boxer, known for his fancy footwork, even fancier trunks and even funkier hairstyles told me he’s really found a second home in Los Angeles, saying, “I wish I would’ve came here earlier in my career.” While many have yearned for “California Dreamin,'” Paulie’s dreams in and out of the squared circle have become a reality for the speed demon.

Bringing his East Coast vibe to the West Coast has been a smooth transition for the Golden Boy fighter, who is now training with Eric Brown at Wild Card. “It’s the best place to train; competition is great and sparring is great,” he adds about the top level of sparring he gets at Freddie Roach’s legendary gym. These top fighters spur the boxer to train even harder.

Fitting right in with the glamour and glitz of La La Land, Malignaggi has been a crowd favorite with the Southern California fans. The former IBF Junior Welterweight champ has also quickly found his place amongst L.A.’s fight fraternity and has already befriended many of the local boxers. At the WSB event, several pro fighters came by to say hello to the New Yorker, including 2008 Olympian Shawn Estrada.

But as they say, you can take the boy out of Brooklyn but you can’t take Brooklyn out of the boy. He isn’t one to mince words and he isn’t one to gloss things over. With his rapid-fire speech, listen in on my interview with Paulie as he admits that he knows he’s not a big puncher and he knows people dismiss him, adding, “I’m always the guy that people wanna take a chance with anyway; I don’t punch and I’ve had a lot of tough fights.”

Malignaggi also tells me that he gets “discredited” all the time and he hopes to make a name for himself now at welter.

“I’ve developed a pretty good name for myself,” he assesses about his career. But also using candor, he states that a lot of people think he doesn’t have as much to offer after being in some hard fights.

But in his last showing, Paulie, 30, made an impression in his welterweight debut by scoring a sixth-round TKO against Michael Lozada (37-8-1, 30 KOs) in Quebec, Canada. Malignaggi has also set his sights on battling for a world title. At the time of our talk, he was focusing on hopefully taking on Jan Zaveck for the German slugger’s IBF championship.

But for now, Paulie will lace up against the less famous Cotto brother on the “Action Heroes” card.

The slick boxer always mentioned that for the remainder of the year he plans on staying in Cali.

Listen in on my interview with the “Magic Man” Malignaggi as the New York transplant settles West:

Welcome to California, Paulie!

Photo of Paulie Malignaggi and Shawn Estrada by Michele Chong
(Video by Igor Frank)

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Cotto is not a welter, more of an obviously overweight lightweight. When he fought Canelo his body looked a tad flabby, no true muscle tone definition. That has been equally evident in all of the last 5 fights that he’s had in the last four years.

    Paulie is a rather small welter himself but he’s been fighting at the Jr welter division for many years. He is three inches taller and weighed 149Lbs in his most recent fight, looking lean, trim and tight.

    Fighting Cotto is a good move for Paulie because besides the fact that he’s quicker and smarter than his slower overweight rival, at this stage in Cotto’s career he has more “name’ than he has actual talent. It’s a low risk, fairly high profile fight, the name “Cotto” makes it so.

    Now, I agree that Cotto might make it interesting. But he’s also known for losing his motivation during fights, looking lackluster and boring. Maybe Paulie will decide to trade more during the second half of the fight, using his superior reflexes and hand speed to out punch Cotto down the stretch.

    Well, we’ll soon find out.

  2. I am actually suprise to see Malignaggi taking on Miguel Cotto’s brother. his no walk in the park, when he fought Canelo, he landed some good shots. It should be an interesting bout.

  3. I too like Paulie. He’s a colorful addition to the game. Always has something to say and even when he doesn’t live up to his OWN hype, the interest level is always high and enjoyable. He seems to just plain fall short when up against the major players of the divisions he has fought in. No, I don’t see him as a force in the welter class but he he can run with the best of them, even when he doesn’t win. One thing for sure, you have to be a solid fighter to defeat Paulie, otherwise he’ll box and slap your ears off.

  4. I actually like paulie and excited to see him fight this coming weekend. He fights hard and puts on a show. He’s an entertainer before, during and after the fight for the most part. With a little more power we would have definitely been a force. Glad to see him out here in WC!

  5. Never been a big Malignaggi fan but the guy does have impressive footwork it’s just his lack of power that keeps him from being great and not to big on his cockiness as well. Although I do admit I was glad to see him earn a rightful decision victory against Juan Diaz after getting screwed over in the first fight.

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