By Shaun Campbell: Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi will not be getting another shot at Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz. Diaz has reportedly rejected the offer from Malignaggi for a rematch. Many still feel that Paulie was robbed that night in Houston, and the reality is that there should be a rematch. It’s debatable who won, but the general feeling is Paulie won it by about 2 rounds. Having said that, to Malignaggi’s disgust, the “baby bull” has said that there will not be a rematch.

So where does this leave Malignaggi, a man with no power (5 knockouts from 25 wins), but very good speed and technical ability? One suggestion that has not been voiced, yet seems a fairly obvious choice is Amir Khan.

First though Khan looks set to take on number one contender and mandatory challenger Dmitry Salita. This will be Khan’s first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title since taking it from Andreas Kotelnik. Salita was twice in line to face Kotelnik but it never happened. So he seems to be about to finally get his chance against Khan (who will start of favourite). If Khan does win this fight, it seems time for him to take another step up and face bigger name fighters if he wants to become big in America, which is what he has said he wants to do in the past. Amir doesn’t have a big following in the UK, so it is likely as he trains in Freddy Roach’s Wildcard Gym, that he will try to wow the States and look for his fan base there. But all through his career one thing has constantly been a problem. A little niggle in the back of everyone’s mind when he’s fighting. His chin. No matter how many times Amir tries to convince the public that it isn’t a problem, the reality is that one day he will be put down again.

Malignaggi is one of the few fighters to be battling it out at the top of his division, with no power. He simply can not knock elite fighters out. But what he lacks in power he makes up for in speed, elusiveness and heart. Going the distance with Miguel Cotto and only to lose to Ricky Hatton through his corner pulling him out is something to be proud of. His loss the Diaz is controversial, as many say he did enough to win that fight. It’s likely that the former IBF champion will have one fight to get him back in winning form, then look for another big fight. With Amir Khan being WBA champion, it seems a fantastic opportunity for Paulie to challenge for another world title. And does he have the skills to win it? Of course he does. There’s every chance that Paulie could triumph over Khan, whether he’d have a chance of knocking him out is arguable. But that’s not to say Amir wouldn’t have a chance against the “magic man”. It would be a good technically fight will both fighters throwing lots of electrifying shots.

Malignaggi likes to play the bad guy in the build up to fights, Amir wants to crack America. Malignaggi is a big name in the States, Amir wants the glory of beating a big name. Why can’t this fight happen? There’s every chance that this fight will happen providing Amir holds onto his title. If it is going to happen it might be towards the end of next year, as it won’t be the next fight each of them have. But if it does happen then a good solid 12 rounds of boxing is what you’ll see.