Paulie Malignaggi Article/Update.. Thing.. Lol

It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it’s been almost seven years since Paulie Malignaggi came kicking and screaming into our consciousness in Brooklyn’s Keyspan Park, stopping someone named Thadeus Parker in a single round to begin his pro career.

For Malignaggi, older and wiser to the ups and downs of the fight game, it probably seems like forever - his road up the ranks through multiple hand surgeries, a bruising 12 round battle in an undersized ring with Miguel Cotto that would have broken lesser fighters, and a realization that having a world title doesn’t necessarily make you a superstar. Not these days at least, when only the right connections ensure the right fights.

So it hasn’t been all roses for the Bensonhurst product, but like a fighter, he perseveres when things are at their lowest, and as he approaches his rematch with the man he won his IBF junior welterweight title from – Lovemore N’dou – this Saturday, he’s starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’m gonna take it in babysteps,” said a cautious Malignaggi, careful not to get burned again the way he has by past expectations that didn’t pan out. “I hope 2008 can be the year I want it to be. Every year I hope it can be a huge year, and it hasn’t happened for me yet, and I hope 2008 can be that year. Saturday will definitely go a long way in finding out where Paulie Malignaggi is going in his career.

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As far as he was concerned, the night he stepped into the ring on the Brooklyn Cyclones’ ballfield in 2001, it was the start of a career where anything less than Oscar De La Hoya-esque stardom would be a disappointment. Well, Malignaggi and every other fighter not named Oscar De La Hoya have had to deal with that letdown. But putting that aside, he has been able to carve out a niche out and establish himself as one of the best fighters in what has turned into a wide open division. And if he and Saturday’s headliner, Ricky Hatton, win their respective bouts, the ‘Big’ fight Malignaggi has craved ever since he fell short against Cotto could be a reality. The 27-year old won’t allow himself to dream though.

“We saw what happened with Junior Witter, and he got caught looking ahead,” said Malignaggi of the former WBC titlist, who was upset by Timothy Bradley earlier this month. “I think that kinda happened to me in my last fight (against Herman Ngoudjo) - it almost cost me and it ended up costing Witter. I don’t want it to happen to me, and as much as you prepare for a fight, if you’re not mentally in it, you can get sideswiped and I don’t want that to happen to me on the 24th.

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Against Ngoudjo in January, Malignaggi retained his title via unanimous decision, but he got rocked during the bout and was far from his best, leading some to even say that the challenger deserved the nod. The ensuing media reports stung Malignaggi, and even though a win this weekend could put him against Hatton, the fact that he has to beat N’dou to do it still doesn’t sit right. And who can blame him, especially since he nearly shut out N’dou the first time? But with a rematch clause (that was actually nullified by Malignaggi’s defense against Ngoudjo) and some fancy footwork by his team, the Australian was able to secure a second title bout even though his only fight since losing his belt was a seventh round knockout of 14-12-2 Rafael Ortiz in January.

“In a way it’s kinda tough because if I don’t do the same thing I did the first time, people will say I’ve lost a step or something,” said Malignaggi. “And this guy had never been beaten the way I beat him the first time. I’m not saying I can’t do it again, because the whole point is to do it again, but if the fight becomes tougher, he’s still a viable contender. Lovemore Ndou’s not a walkover, even though I dislike the guy completely, and he’s been an annoying little tick for the last year. But yeah, if I don’t shut him out over 12 rounds, then I’ll probably see some kind of media backlash, and I think that would be kinda unfair.

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Malignaggi isn’t being thrown off his game like he may have in the past though. And he’s gone through a series of steps to ensure that he is at his best on Saturday. First step, get out of town – not just Brooklyn, but the United States, as a few weeks in Buddy McGirt’s camp in Vero Beach was followed by the last two and a half weeks in Sicily, the city where he and his family lived for much of his first six years.