Thanks: 
Likes: 
Dislikes: 
Malignaggi Article about Cotto
Has anyone seen this article? What are your thoughts about it. I think Malignaggi has got a big mouth and Cotto needs to shut him up.
In a bit of a cart-before-the-horse move, Top Rank brought Miguel Cotto’s next opponent down to San Juan to meet with the media before Cotto’s March 4 fight with Gianluca Branco. Good thing Cotto did his job and took out Branco in the eighth round. Had the unexpected occurred, we’d have surely heard all about how the rising junior welterweight star and his promoter were caught looking ahead.
That would have been a shame because Paulie Malignaggi provided plenty of good copy on his own. Despite facing the prospect of a considerable step up in competition, the Brooklyn native and first-generation Sicilian-American talked as if Cotto was just some clubfighter he’d be meeting on Friday Night Fights.
Malignaggi predicted he’d bloody Cotto’s nose by round two and that the 2000 Olympian would be spitting blood by round three. Moreover, he said he wouldn’t be around to get hit by Cotto’s dreaded left hook and that he actually looked forward to facing his piercing prefight stare.
“They were stunned in disbelief looking at him,” Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels said. “He’s saying things that no one’s ever said about Cotto.”
Though oddsmakers say otherwise, Cotto and Top Rank are entering a potentially perilous situation with their June 10 showdown against Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden. Not only is the hard-to-hit New Yorker a much more dangerous opponent for Cotto than many anticipate, but Top Rank is banking on a lot of people wanting to invest in pay-per-view boxing on that night.
The Cotto-Malignaggi pay-per-view will go head-to-head with Bernard Hopkins’ farewell fight against Antonio Tarver, despite Bob Arum having called dibs on June 10 a year in advance. After Cotto stopped Mohamad Abdulaev in a half-full Garden last June on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, Top Rank quickly booked the venue for this year’s festival weekend with the hope of matching Cotto against an opponent who would fill more seats. But Golden Boy Promotions, Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, and HBO agreed in February to stage Tarver-Hopkins on the same date.
HBO offered to carry Cotto-Malignaggi on June 9, but the payout was reduced, given that it would be on a Friday night rather than a desirable Saturday. So Top Rank decided to take its chances and go ahead with its own pay-per-view on June 10, opposite Tarver-Hopkins. Given the state of the boxing industry, dueling pay-per-view offerings seem as logical as a Thomas Hearns comeback, but Top Rank President Todd duBoef was stubbornly optimistic that his company could still do very well with the match.
“We feel very confident in driving pay-per-view in our base, which is the Hispanic market,” duBoef said. “And we’ll cross over into the Anglo market. You’ll have the decision of which one you want to watch. It’s like the NFL. The AFC’s on one network, the NFC’s on the other network. Unfortunately, the choice isn’t on a free basis, but we’ll have to give everyone a choice. It was something that we were forced to do.”
DuBoef said he wasn’t going to tell his young up-and-coming fighter to step aside for a future Hall of Famer’s last big payday. Despite the competition, he predicted Cotto-Malignaggi would still be a big event. His frustration was evident, though. “I don’t understand the synergies between the other fight and Puerto Rican Day Parade,” he said. “Obviously, they had no respect, or they couldn’t move it.”
From a promotional aspect, Malignaggi is an ideal opponent for Cotto. The slick 25-year-old fights out of Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn and has a significant following in the Big Apple. The Italian New Yorker-vs.-Puerto Rican matchup should help move tickets as well. And many fans could get hooked into watching an anticipated blowout thanks to the confident Malignaggi’s trash-talking, which is somewhat reminiscent of heavy underdog Greg Haugen verbally thrashing Julio Caesar Chavez—before getting physically thrashed in their 1993 title fight in Mexico City.
“I think it’s gonna sell very well,” Malignaggi promoter Lou DiBella said, “no matter what it’s up against.”
From a matchmaking standpoint, Top Rank wanted an opponent attractive enough to sell tickets and enhance Cotto’s image, but an opponent who wouldn’t test his shaky chin. Though duBoef denied it, it is widely believed that the company wanted to keep Cotto away from anyone with a punch in the wake of near-knockout losses to DeMarcus Corley and Ricardo Torres last year, both of which were later blamed on balance problems that stemmed from an eardrum injury. Hence the Branco fight. Hence the unbeaten Malignaggi, who has just five knockouts among his 21 wins.
“I think it’s a wonderful contrast of styles for him, which will allow him to see something that he hasn’t in previous fights,” duBoef said. “He’ll have to be very patient in working his way in and cutting the ring off.”
In the brawl with Torres, where Cotto suffered the first knockdown of his career in the second round, was badly hurt in the fifth, but floored Torres four times to win via seventh-round stoppage, the Puerto Rican favorite proved to be more Arturo Gatti than Floyd Mayweather. If all goes well against Malignaggi, the plan is to pit him against the winner of Castillo-Corrales III in November, and then look for an even bigger fight with Ricky Hatton or possibly Gatti in 2007, providing Gatti beats welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir.
But Cotto can’t look past Malignaggi, who has the speedy, slippery style to make anyone look bad. Even so, he would figure to be a safe foe for Cotto considering Malignaggi hasn’t eclipsed the ESPN or ShoBox levels of the sport, thanks in part to brittle hands that have necessitated several layoffs and a less-than-crowd-pleasing style. After his last win, a one-sided decision against Donald Camarena in February, it was speculated that Malignaggi would go after a young contender such as Demetrius Hopkins or Kendall Holt. Instead, he’ll take a giant leap forward against Cotto. It’s a match DiBella would probably have preferred not to make for Malignaggi at this juncture, but the promoter said all the right things anyway.
“First of all, he’s been screaming for this fight since his third pro fight,” DiBella said.
“He wants the opportunity. It’s my job to get my guy the opponent that he wants. I don’t think he’s being thrown to the wolves. And it’s not like Cotto’s King Kong. Top Rank’s been careful in matching him.”
It’s no surprise that Malignaggi feels he’s getting this fight at the right time. He sees a ballsy but one-dimensional fighter in Cotto, who will keep coming forward and keep getting hit.
“Cotto’s gonna catch more beating than anyone I’ve ever faced,” Malignaggi bragged. “I don’t see any way Miguel Cotto can beat me. He has a power advantage, but he has no chin. He hits hard, but every other advantage is in my favor.
“What’s he gonna do? There’s nothing he can do. He’s not gonna come out and just box with me, because he knows there’s nothing he can do to outbox me. There’s no catching me off-guard. I’m gonna adjust to everything he does. Everything he does, I’ll have an answer for. He’s a one-dimensional fighter, so he’ll have to take what’s coming to him. Once I neutralize everything he does, he’ll have to take his beating like a man.”
Regardless of Malignaggi’s assurances to the contrary, the assumption is that Cotto will eventually solve the crafty defense of the shorter Malignaggi and overpower him. But Malignaggi claimed he won’t be there to hit, and that if Cotto does catch him, he’s shown throughout his career that he can take a shot.
“I’m very confident when I say that I’m the fastest fighter he’s ever faced in his career,” Malignaggi said. “He’s never seen anything like me. The closest thing to me was DeMarcus Corley. Maybe. I’m a fast counterpuncher. I’m even faster than DeMarcus Corley. And you saw— Corley had him in trouble.”
No one but Malignaggi knows for sure if his confidence is genuine, just a reflection of a cocky New York attitude, or a mere ploy to enrage Cotto. Whatever the case, it’s not the first time Cotto has met an opponent with an air of superiority. Kelson Pinto and Abdulaev, for example, each had beaten Cotto in the amateurs. Neither drew as much attention as Malignaggi has for his brashness, though.
“I don’t think everyone comes into a fight with Miguel as defeatists,” duBoef said. “The only difference is that Paulie’s in New York and he speaks English.”
While Malignaggi is hoping to duplicate the embarrassment Top Rank suffered last year when Zahir Raheem outboxed Erik Morales, this one could end up being more like Marco Antonio Barrera’s 2004 dissection of Paulie Ayala, providing Cotto cuts off the ring and uses his potent left hook to the body to slow Malignaggi down. Once that happens, Cotto can simply walk through the light-punching Malignaggi and finish him off with power shots.
With both hands healthy, Malignaggi has more confidence in his power these days. Problem is, he just doesn’t have enough power to make Cotto respect him, even with Cotto’s questionable chin. The result figures to be an early lead by Malignaggi evaporating by the middle rounds, with Cotto slowly punishing his opponent on the way to pounding out a late-round TKO.
But, just to be safe this time, Top Rank might want to hold off on parading Cotto’s next opponent until the following day’s parade.
 |
|
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Starr
Bookmarks