Malignaggi could be fighting on 4/9

By Jim Dower: Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KO’s) could be seeing action on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Erik Morales fight on April 9th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card, which will be promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, may give Malignaggi some badly needed visibility in what will be his 2nd fight of his comeback after suffering a disappointing 11th round TKO defeat to World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Amir Khan last year in May.

Rather than stick it out at light welterweight, the 30-year-old Malignaggi has decided to move up to the welterweight division where he hopes to find some success with his superior quickness and boxing skills. In his first fight at welterweight in December 2010, Malignaggi recorded a rare knockout victory in a 6th round TKO of Michael Lozada. For the light hitting Malignaggi, this was his first knockout in the past eight years and it may be a sign that he’s got more power at the higher weight class.

Malignaggi now fights for Golden Boy Promotions and it’s unclear what they think he’s capable of doing as a welterweight. It could be that they’ll save Malignaggi as a name fighter to use to spruce up some of their fight cards to get better publicity.

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