By Ian Aldous: After the events of the past weekend ruining any plans that Paulie Malignaggi (32-4) had of facing Ricky Hatton. It appears that he’s now in need of a new challenger to his WBA world welterweight championship. Fellow New Yorker and former world title challenger, Dmitriy Salita (35-1-1) wants to see a battle of Brooklyn with bragging rights and more importantly, the title on the line.

A world title challenge for yourself against fellow New Yorker, Paulie Malignaggi was touted on numerous occasions a few months ago. How close were you to getting that fight?

DS “The hype for that fight has been building for over ten years when we both turned pro. I wanted the fight on October 20th and so did the fans. I am very confident that I will beat Paulie! He is a great champion, very accomplished boxer but Paulie is hesitant to fight me. Paulie knows my abilities from when we were young. He also called my next to last fight. From his point of view he feels if he looses that he will be criticized by boxing critics and won’t be able to get meaningful fights. To hedge his fears, I guarantee a rematch anytime, anyplace. Brooklyn is a place both of us call home so we can do the rematch in Italy. Seriously I would sign that contract.”

What’s the latest on the possibility of fighting Paulie? He seemed very interested in fighting Ricky Hatton but that’s obviously not happening now.

DS “The ball is completely in his court. I want the fight and I know that the fans in NY want the fight as well. We have been talking about fighting each other for a long time. It’s up to him to answer the challenge. He has the belt and it would be a mega event. Oscar De La Hoya talked about it as a possibility at the press conference pre October 20th. It’s such a natural fight but he has the belt so at the end of the day it’s up to him.”

Gabriel Bracero (20-1) is a name that’s been mentioned as a potential fight for you. What are you thoughts on him as an opponent?

DS “Gabriel is a very good boxer. He has many similarities to Paulie, good jab, stays busy with his hands and feet and would be a great fight. Gabriel is also a big draw in NY so it can be good from many angles. I heard that Paulie wanted to fight in April, I would be happy to fight Gabriel in February.”

This past weekend, Ricky Hatton made his comeback against Vyacheslav Senchenko. Give us your thoughts on his disappointing return to the ring.

DS “Ricky took on a world class fighter in his ring return, he had a long and hard lay off. Certainly a lot of respect to Ricky for taking such a fight. I think his body and mind were not able to compete at the elite level at this stage. His lay off took a toll on his body and mind. This loss should not over shadow Ricky’s great career.”

Since I last spoke with you, you’ve had a couple of undercard victories. How were they?

DS “They were very good. I got myself sharp. Now I need a significant fight to put myself back on the world stage. I am in my prime and ready for top fighters in the world.”

You had the chance to fight on the huge card at the Barclays Center headlined by Danny Garcia and Erik Morales. How was that?

DS “It was a great honor to be part of that show. There are very few firsts and that was a historic night. Golden Boy did a great job of bringing world championship boxing back to Brooklyn. I am grateful for that as a boxer and a fan of the sport.”