By Jason Kim: Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KO’s) looked impressive in stopping 27-year-old Michael Lozada (36-7-1, 29 KO’s) last Saturday night on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins vs. Jean Pascal bout at the Pepsi Colosseum, in Quebec, Canada. Malignaggi, who hadn’t scored a stoppage since 2004, basically overwhelmed the limited Lozada with blistering fast punches until referee Jean-Guy Brousseau stopped the fight at 2:33 with Lozada still on his feet but taking shots.

It was a great win for the 30-year-old Malignaggi, but you have to put this in perspective. Lozada was a 2nd tier fighter all the way, and not the type of fighter that Malignaggi would be facing if he were to have taken on a top 15 opponent. It’s one thing beating up on a hand-picked Lozada and quite another thing to beat welterweight contenders like Mike Jones, Kell Brook and Saul Alvarez.

Malignaggi’s promoters are likely to match him up next with someone like welterweight contenders Matthew Hatton and Selcuk Aydin. There’s also talk of Malignaggi being rewarded with a title shot against IBF welterweight champion Jan Zaveck, one of the weaker of the four champions in the welterweight division. I think that’s a bad idea, because although Zaveck is terribly limited, he has good power and I don’t see Malignaggi being able to stand up to his big bludgeoning shots for 12 rounds without getting hurt and taken out.

However, Malignaggi would have an excellent chance of beating Matthew Hatton. That would be a great fight for both Hatton and Malignaggi. Hatton doesn’t have much power when throwing to the head, but he’s a lethal body puncher. As long as Malignaggi stays away from fighting Hatton on the inside, he should win this fight without any problems. It’s unclear whether Hatton would be willing to take a fight with Malignaggi because Hatton is hoping to get a title shot against one of the welterweight champions, and if he fights Malignaggi, he could potentially lose out on that fight if he gets beaten.

Malignaggi previously was stopped in the 11th round by Ricky Hatton in 2008. A fight between Matthew Hatton and Malignaggi might sell well in the UK, where Malignaggi is well known. However, Hatton isn’t a big star over there despite being the brother of Ricky. They would have to put this fight on an undercard with one of the major stars like WBA heavyweight champion David Haye or Amir Khan.