Paulie Malignaggi’s Time to Shine

By Boxing News - 01/07/2010 - Comments

Image: Paulie Malignaggi’s Time to ShineBy Kirk Jackson: Amidst all the controversy that has been surrounding the sport of boxing the past couple of months over the whole steroids issue involving Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and others, the name Paulie Malignaggi has also risen to the surface. Propelled to the front pages of boxing popularity, mainly due to his stance on accusing multi division champion Manny Pacquiao of taking performance enhancing drugs, Paulie now has a golden opportunity in front of him.

Perhaps being more of a household name now than ever before, Paulie can certainly capitalize on this opportunity, as he is one of the fighters in the running to fill in as a replacement for Floyd Mayweather in a bout against Pound For Pound King Manny Pacquiao in March.

The Magic Man would obviously be the underdog if this fight ever materializes, and would certainly have to live up to his moniker if he is to pull off the upset. Paulie Malignaggi does have the ability to defeat Manny Pacquiao, anything can happen in the sport of boxing and Paulie isn’t a pushover. Mr. Malignaggi went the distance with former Junior Welterweight and Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto, and went eleven rounds with former Junior and Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton. Paulie has also gone up against former Lightweight Champion Juan Diaz in two spectacular fights.

In regards to facing Pacquiao, the Magic Man does possess a good left jab, has the ability to throw fluid combinations, has plenty of heart and has displayed his toughness on plenty of occasions, and can be hard to hit when on the run. Even though he lacks punching power due to a history of having brittle hands, he does to a certain degree, have a style that can present Manny with a few problems. And if nothing else, Paulie is definitely a charismatic figure, and funny enough to at least make the pre fight show very interesting.

Win or lose he can earn a pretty nice payday fighting the Pound for Pound King Manny Pacquiao. Even though some wonder why would Pacquiao’s camp even consider Malignaggi, especially considering the fact most of these performance enhancing drugs accusations stem from Malignaggi himself.

Coming off the recent victory over Juan Diaz, even with out Pacquiao, there are some fights for Paulie out there in the junior welterweight division. There have been talks of Malignaggi facing WBA Junior Welterweight Champion Amir Khan, but if that fight does not manifest, there is also WBC Champion Devon Alexander, WBO Champion Timothy Bradley, IBF Champion Juan Urango, or a list of contenders such as Kendall Holt, or Nate Campbell, that can surely catapult Paulie into a potential championship match up of significance in the future. Whether he can ultimately secure a fight with Pacquiao remains to be seen. The point is, amidst all of this controversy and buzz surrounding him, it’s his time to shine.



Comments are closed.