Paulie Malignaggi
Paul Malignaggi | |
|---|---|
| File:Malignaggi.jpg | |
| Born | Paul Malignaggi December 23, 1980 |
| Nationality | Italian American |
| Other names | The Magic Man |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Junior welterweight |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 22 |
| Wins | 21 |
| Wins by KO | 5 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Paul Malignaggi (born December 23, 1980) is a professional boxer from Brooklyn, New york. Like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, Paul Malignaggi feels he gets "no respect." Other boxers have said Malignaggi has not proven himself as a top fighter yet. However, the undefeated "Magic Man" believes that his detractors are flat wrong.
"I have speed and great boxing skills," Malignaggi said. "But, I also feel I have the best jab in the sport. People sometimes knock my power because I do not have a lot of knockouts, but when people are in the ring with me they feel my power." Paulie, as he is affectionately known, was born in Brooklyn, but moved to Siracusa, Sicily, when he was a few months old. He stayed in Sicily until he was six.
When his family moved back to America, Malignaggi only spoke Italian, but picked up the English language quickly. His father left and his mother soon remarried. When he was 16, Malignaggi was thrown out of high school. He was living with his grandparents at the time, and his grandfather took him to the gym to see if it would keep Paulie out of trouble.
"I ended up loving the gym and have been there ever since." Malignaggi said. "I still remember my first day there. It was June 26, 1997. I remember training with my old trainer, Willie Badillo. He was teaching me a jab and right hand in front of the mirror, but throwing them really slowly to get the form down correctly. I started with a good foundation. I wrapped my hands and thought it looked so cool."
Malignaggi has trained at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn ever since. As an amateur, he won the 1998 and 2001 New York Golden Gloves Amateur Championship, as well as the 2001 United States National Amateur Championship.
The "Magic Man" made his professional debut at age 20 on July 7, 2001, and scored a first-round knockout over Thadeus Parker in Brooklyn. He won four more professional fights before his rookie campaign came to an end, including two by knockout. In 2002, Malignaggi went seven-for-seven in the ring, including a second-round TKO over Anthony Simpkins on Aug. 30 in New York City.
"I learned when I sit down on my punches, I do have some power there," Malignaggi said after the fight. "I just have to keep doing that. I have a tendency sometimes to use my legs a little too much. I kind of stayed calm against Simpkins."
He finished 2002 by defeating Paul Delgado across eight rounds on Nov. 23 in Atlantic City. Despite tearing the ligaments in his right hand during the fight, Malignaggi won the split decision 78-74, 79-73 and 75-77.
Malignaggi did not fight for nearly seven months. However, when he returned on June 3, 2003, in Uncasville, Conn., the unbeaten boxer won a six-round unanimous decision over Shad Howard. Malignaggi sent Howard to the canvas in the third round and won by the scores 60-52 (twice), 60-53.
Less than two months later on Aug. 1, 2003, Malignaggi entered the ring against Kevin Watts in Red Sox country waving a New York Yankees flag with a Yankees emblem sewn on his trunks. Despite the unfriendly surroundings, Malignaggi scored a sixth-round TKO in Hampton Beach, N.H.
The "Magic Man" dominated the fight by maintaining a busier pace and landing sharper punches. After scoring two knockdowns in the sixth round, the referee stopped the contest. Malignaggi put Watts flat on his back for the initial time with a series of right hands. The decisive knockdown came as Watts stuck his tongue out at Malignaggi. The Yankees fan promptly landed two right hands that had Watts flat on his face.
"I am a Yankees fan," Malignaggi said afterward. "I knew I was going to be hated. Watts' fans were booing me. All his fans came up from Boston."
On Oct. 24, 2003, Malignaggi fought closer to home in Bronx, N.Y., and earned an eight-round unanimous decision over Jesus Santiago. Malignaggi finished strongly in the last two rounds, and won by scores 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75.
Malignaggi completed a third consecutive perfect campaign on Dec. 6, 2003, with an eight-round unanimous decision over Delgado on the Vitali Klitschko-Kirk Johnson undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Despite injuring his right hand again, Malignaggi won by the scores 80-72, 79-73 (twice).
"With the first right hand I threw in the eighth, I hurt my hand and basically just danced with Delgado for the remainder of the round," Malignaggi said.
In his most recent outing, Malignaggi tallied a 10-round unanimous decision over a game, but outgunned Rocky Martinez on April 22, 2004, in New York.
From the outset, Martinez had no real answer for Malignaggi's speed. The up-and-coming New Yorker easily won the first and second rounds with a crisp, quick jab and decent combinations to the body. Martinez' nose began to bleed in the seventh, and worsened in the eighth. Malignaggi took the last two rounds en route to nearly shutting out Martinez. The judges scored the bout 99-91 (twice) and 98-92.
Malignaggi is a student of boxing. Often, he can be found watching tapes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Zab Judah and Meldrick Taylor.
"Nobody watches more tapes than me," Malignaggi said. "Basically, I watch anyone with great boxing skills and hand speed. I do this because I will be the best boxer in the sport one day, and those guys are among the best to study. Hopefully, by the end of the year I can win a regional title and get myself inside the top 10 or 15."