By Jason Kim: Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (27-4, 5 KO’s) is contemplating a move up to the welterweight division where he’s thinking about fighting in Italy against the EBU welterweight champion, a position currently held by Matthew Hatton (39-4-2, 15 KO’s), the brother of Ricky Hatton. In an article at ESPN, the 29-year-old Malignaggi says “Now that I need a fight for my comeback, why not do it in Italy? I know a lot of people want to see me fight in Italy. This would be a chance for people there to see me live. Maybe I can get the Italian welterweight title, make it interesting.”

Malignaggi was totally dominated by WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan on May 15th of this month, a fight in which Malignaggi was beaten up and stopped in the 11th round of a one-sided fight. That fight pretty much cemented the idea that Malignaggi wasn’t likely going to be able to win back a title at light welterweight. This is why it was strange to hear talk of Malignaggi, a weak puncher, moving up to the welterweight division.

It seemed completely doubtful that Malignaggi would have any chance of being able to compete at the welterweight level. However, if Malignaggi wishes to fight on the European level, he’ll have a much better chance at winning a title and even holding it down for awhile. It’s hard to tell why and what Malignaggi would get from that, because the money isn’t going to be nearly as good as what Malignaggi has grown accustomed to getting while fighting on the world level.

But if Malignaggi just wants to fight and win, the European level is clearly the way to go. Malignaggi would have an excellent chance of beating EBU welterweight champion Matthew Hatton, who doesn’t punch hard and isn’t particularly fast. It’s safe to say that Malignaggi would likely beat Hatton if he was to fight him. However, there’s a good chance that Hatton won’t be the EBU champion for very much longer, because he has a fight coming up against former WBA welterweight champion Yuriy Nuzhnenko on July 9th. Hatton could end up getting beaten in that fight and then Malignaggi would have a tougher task of trying to beat Nuzhnenko. However, I think Malignaggi would beat that guy too.

Malignaggi says “Financially, I don’t have to fight again. I’ve done well for myself. I don’t have to fight, but you wonder what will you do with yourself? I’m a fighter. That’s what I do. I am a fighter to the core. It’s something you miss if you stay away from it, so while I still the option, let’s see what I can do. It might be fun to go the European route.”

I have no doubts that Malignaggi can succeed at the European level. The only question is whether he would be satisfied fighting at that level. Also, Malignaggi is slowing down now, and he’s going to take a lot more punishment if he sticks around for too much longer, even against European fighters. Hopefully, Malignaggi gets the gig at HBO as the replacement analyst for Lennox Lewis. He would do well in that capacity and make good money.