By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KO’s) could be fighting Jose Miguel Cotto (32-2-1, 24 KO’s) on the undercard of the Marcos Maidana vs. Erik Morales fight card on April 9th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Malignaggi, 30, recently moved up to the welterweight division and defeated Michael Lozada by a 6th round stoppage in December.

Malignaggi is now looking for a high profile fight and the Maidana-Morales fight card will be perfect for Malignaggi to show off his stuff. Cotto, 33, is the older brother of two time world champion and current WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto.

The older Cotto has twice fought for world titles but has come up short both times. Malignaggi would likely have the advantage in this fight, because Cotto is only 5’5″ and more of a slugger rather than a boxer. However, he gave Saul Alvarez more than he could handle in the early rounds of heir fight last year in May, staggering Alvarez in the opening round with a huge right hand and then landing a lot of hard pot shots until the bigger Alvarez wore him down and stopped him in the 9th.

Malignaggi doesn’t have anything close to the same kind of power that Alvarez possesses, so this could be a really tough fight for him unless he stays clear of Cotto’s big power shots. Malignaggi can’t punch with Cotto because he’s not as strong.

Malignaggi was previously beaten by Miguel Cotto by a 12 round decision in June 2006.