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Who is Paulie Malignaggi?

19 Nov 2008

Paulie Malignaggi was destined to be a boxer from the moment he started fighting to get out of his mother's womb, hailing as he did from an Italian-American neighbourhood steeped in the sport's history.

The same Brooklyn blocks where Malignaggi spent most of his early years were similar to those frequented by legendary fighters like Rocky Graziano and Jake La Motta.

Like his illustrious predecessors, Malignaggi endured a tough childhood and frequently got himself in trouble with the police until his grandfather and uncle first took him to a boxing gym at the age of 16.

Malignaggi soon excelled, winning two New York Golden Gloves and one national title as an amateur and turning professional in 2001 with a 27-second knockout of Thadeus Parker.

While the crowd warmed to Malignaggi's brash and confident persona, if they went away from that fight thinking they had seen the start of another big-punching career they were sadly mistaken.

All the bluster in the world could not hide the fact that Malignaggi's right hand was too fragile for the boxing ring, with a succession of problems blighting him through his career.

The clever New Yorker refused to accept his career was over before it had really begun. He changed his style to a dancing, fast-footed approach a world away from the approach of the old warriors Graziano and La Motta.

Ducking and swaying behind an accurate jab, Malignaggi's new style soon befuddled opponents and even a US television audience who have always favoured big hitters took to his happy-go-lucky approach.

Malignaggi became a fixture on ESPN2 in his early career and began to attract a significant following as he homed in on a world title shot with shut-out wins over the likes of Sandro Casamonica and Donald Camarena.

In June 2006, Malignaggi got his big chance against Miguel Cotto. He lost on the night but in defeat he showed a fighting heart big enough to make Graziano and La Motta proud.

His right hand broken again and suffering a fractured jaw, Malignaggi somehow managed to hang around right to the final bell and give Cotto problems along the way.

Malignaggi's performance drew rave reviews and a subsequent dominant win over South African veteran Lovemore N'Dou to claim the IBF light-welterweight crown was a fitting reward for his efforts.

But like Hatton, Malignaggi heads to Las Vegas with plenty still to prove. Last time out on the Hatton undercard, he defeated N'Dou for a second time but this time had to settle for a split decision. Are his best days behind him too?