ON November 22, 2008, Paulie Malignaggi fought Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Entering the ring, Malignaggi knew that the hopes and dreams and hard work of 28 years would be distilled into a handful of three-minute segments. Everything in his life had led up to this moment. Everything in his future would be influenced by it.
Malignaggi had turned pro at age 20 on July 7, 2001. โI had my dreams,โ he said later. โNobody starts boxing to be a club fighter. I thought of boxing as a way to carve my name in history and show people that I was on this planet.โ
โIโm not just going to be a champion,โ Paulie told his promoter, Lou DiBella, before his first pro fight. โIโm going to the Hall of Fame.โ
Later, Malignaggi elaborated on that theme, saying, โMy speed discourages everyone I fight. Iโve got hand speed and foot speed, but my best weapon is my brain. I know exactly where I am in the ring at all times. Iโm always thinking in there, setting my opponent up and keeping him from setting me up.โ
But Malignaggi had an Achilles heel โ a notable lack of power that would limit him to seven knockout wins in 44 career fights. In a way, that made his ring accomplishments all the more impressive. Often, when he went into battle, his opponent was armed with a machete while Paulie was carrying a pocket-knife. He built his victories by adding up the points, round-by-round-by-round.
And Malignaggi laboured under a second disadvantage as well. He was plagued by hands that HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant called โas brittle as uncooked spaghetti.โ They were broken multiple times, necessitating numerous surgeries.
Still, by 2006, Paulie was undefeated in 21 fights and challenged Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade. โIt was,โ he said later, โlike fighting the devil in hell.โ
In round one, Malignaggi suffered a bad cut from a headbutt. In round two, he was knocked down. He left the ring that night with the first loss of his career and broken bones in his face that took six months to heal. But he fought valiantly, went the distance, and won four rounds (five on one judgeโs scorecard).
Fifty-three weeks later, Malignaggi shut out Lovemore Nโdou with a masterful performance over 12 rounds to claim the IBF 140lb crown. That was his shining moment in boxing. Successful title defences against Herman Ngoudjo and Nโdou followed. But by his own admission, Paulie looked ordinary each time.
Then Malignaggi got another shot at stardom; this time against Hatton.
Prior to facing Paulie, Hatton had a career record of 44 wins with 31 knockouts against a single loss. Until 2005, heโd been widely thought of as a โprotectedโ fighter. Then he stopped Kostya Tszyu in 11 rounds to annex the IBF super-lightweight title. Victories over Carlos Maussa, Luis Collazo, Juan Urango, and Jose Luis Castillo solidified his claim to being a legitimate world champion.
In December 2007, Hatton reached for the stars. He signed to fight Floyd Mayweather Jnr. But when fight night came, he was forced to battle both boxingโs pound-for-pound king and the one-sided refereeing of Joe Cortez. Mayweather knocked him out in the 10th round.
Ricky returned to the ring with a unanimous decision victory over Juan Lazcano. Hatton-Malignaggi followed. โEvery year, I start out hoping that this will be the year I make it big,โ Malignaggi said after the bout contracts were signed. โSo far, it hasnโt happened. The Cotto fight could have done it, but I came up short. Beating Ricky Hatton can get me to where I want to be. This fight can get me recognised as the best junior-welterweight [super-lightweight] in the world. This fight can make me a star.โ
Hatton-Malignaggi was Paulieโs first fight in Las Vegas. His face was on room keys at the MGM Grand. The world press was there.
Malignaggi was long on confidence during fight week. Although the odds were 12-to-5 in Hattonโs favour, he didnโt think of himself as an underdog. Ricky planned to pressure him, but Paulie intended to frustrate his foe.
โSpeed kills,โ Lou DiBella opined. โAnd speed particularly kills Ricky. Itโs not punchers that give Ricky trouble; itโs speed. Look at his fights against Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Luis Collazo.โ
โDonโt compare Hatton with Cotto,โ Paulie added, โbecause theyโre not on the same level. Ricky is an average fighter. In England, he was pampered against club-fighter opponents. Heโs been very ordinary over here. I think heโs regressed, or maybe he was never that good to begin with.
โHatton has flaws that I can take advantage of,โ Malignaggi continued. โIโve seen them all through his career. When youโre fast, you can hit anybody. Iโm fast, and Ricky isnโt a good defensive fighter. My A-game is better than Ricky Hattonโs A-game. Itโs going to be a very frustrating night for Ricky. Heโll be catching a lot.โ
โPaulie thinks heโs a good talker,โ Hatton responded. โBut he tends to come out with a lot of bull. Youโre not going to see Ricky Hatton doing the Ali Shuffle. But you will see more head movement and a few other things that I know how to do and havenโt done as often as I should lately. And youโll also see what I always do; constant pressure and body punching.โ
There was a question as to whether Hatton could work effectively under the aegis of his new trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr. In late July, Billy Graham (whoโd trained Ricky for every one of his professional fights) was fired. There was a school of thought that Hatton would miss Graham both in the gym and in his corner on fight night. And more significantly, there was the issue of Rickyโs lifestyle. If Malignaggiโs underlying weakness was his hands, Hattonโs was the abuse of his body between fights.
Ricky was a drinker; a heavy drinker. He was also a ravenous eater and typically gained 40 to 50lbs between fights. He often made light of the situation. On a teleconference call after training camp began, heโd told the media, โIโve been stepping out at 5.30 in the morning to run for five miles, which is a big change from the usual routine of getting in at 5.30 in the morning after a night on the town.โ
But in recent fights, Hatton had tended to fade in the championship rounds. Collazo, Mayweather, and Lazcano all hurt him late. And conditioning became even more of an issue when nutritionist and conditioning coach Kerry Kayes quit Team Hatton in protest over Grahamโs dismissal.
Thus, the question: What had a hedonistic lifestyle coupled with the aggressive practice of a brutal sport taken out of Hatton? Ricky was 30. Malignaggi was 28. But because of Hattonโs lifestyle, he was thought of as a much older fighter. Would this be the fight when Ricky was suddenly too old to do what he did well?
โ โ โ
Malignaggi liked to get to the arena early when he fought and give himself time to settle in. He wasnโt scheduled to be in the ring until 8pm on fight night but arrived at his dressing room at five oโclock preparatory to doing battle against Hatton. Team Malignaggi was with him. Trainer Buddy McGirt, assistant trainer Orlando Carrasquillo, cutman Danny Milano, Umberto Malignaggi (Paulieโs brother), Pete Sferazza (a close friend), attorney John Hornewer, and Anthony Catanzaro (who mentored Paulie outside the ring).
While the others engaged in quiet conversation, Paulie sat on a chair and listened to music through a pair of headphones. It was impossible for the members of his team to know precisely what doubts and fears were running through his mind. But one thing was certain. He knew the taste of defeat. Its sour residue had been in his mouth since losing to Cotto two years earlier. He never wanted to taste it again.
Over the next few hours, Malignaggi stretched, put on his shoes and trunks, had his hands taped, shadow-boxed, and listened to referee Kenny Baylessโ pre-fight instructions. At seven oโclock, he went into an adjacent room with Carrasquillo to warm up and hit the pads. McGirt stayed in the main dressing area to watch James Kirkland vs. Brian Vera (HBOโs first televised fight of the evening) on a television monitor.
At 7.15, Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Zito entered the dressing room and made their way to Malignaggi and Carrasquillo. โYou look good, man,โ Stallone told Paulie. โBetter than I ever looked.โ
โIโm ready. The plan is to bust him up.โ
โHave a good one.โ
In less than a minute, Stallone and Zito were gone. For the next half-hour, Malignaggi alternated between hitting the pads with Carrasquillo and sitting on the arm of a worn paisley-covered sofa with his head down. More than any of the people around him, he was processing the reality of how dangerous and contingent the next hour would be.
As more than a few boxing insiders had speculated before the fight, a fighter got old in the ring during Hatton-Malignaggi. But that fighter wasnโt Ricky. It was Paulie.
Malignaggi had a slight edge in round one as a consequence of superior footwork and his jab. But he wasnโt particularly effective with either, which was a precursor of things to come. He let Hatton get into a rhythm early and never got into a rhythm of his own.
In round two, Ricky became more aggressive and, with a half-minute left in the stanza, stunned Paulie with a chopping right hand. Thereafter, Malignaggi seemed to abandon his game plan in favour of an almost impatient battle. He fought like a fighter with a puncherโs chance instead of a boxer whose only road to victory lay in putting together punch after punch to win point after point, round after round. And he didnโt have a puncherโs chance because he wasnโt a puncher.
Hatton was physically stronger. Malignaggiโs primary defence was movement. He didnโt have the power to keep Ricky off. When he landed, Hatton simply walked through the punches to get inside. At times, Paulie seemed frozen, unable to punch or get out of the way of Rickyโs punches. Contrary to all expectations, he allowed Hatton to get off first for much of the night.
โMy neck felt like it had a stinger,โ Paulie said afterward. โLike there was a hundred pounds on it. I couldnโt move the way I usually move. One time, I ducked and it felt like I was stuck. I guess thatโs what Ricky does to you. But the referee did a good job. Iโve been in fights where the referee was a spectator. Kenny Bayless did his job right.โ
Hatton took advantage of what Bayless gave him. On occasion, he jammed an elbow into Malignaggiโs throat or raked a glove across Paulieโs face. But overall, he fought a clean fight.
In the middle rounds, Ricky stepped up the pace, going to the body with telling effect. By round nine, Paulie was struggling to survive. During round 10, Lou DiBella went to Malignaggiโs corner and told McGirt, โHeโs not doing anything. Maybe it should be stopped.โ McGirt said no. But he did tell Paulie between rounds that, if he kept taking punches without throwing back, heโd stop the fight.
In round 11, Malignaggi took a hard body shot and DiBella returned to the corner. โIf you donโt stop it, I will,โ he told the trainer. Seconds later, McGirt waved the white towel of surrender. Each judge had given Paulie one round.
After the fight, Paulie sat for a long time on the sofa in his dressing room. The back of his robe was pulled up and forward over his head, completely covering his face.
Finally, he lowered the robe.
โThey shouldnโt have stopped the fight,โ he said.
There was a distraught look on his face.
โYou were getting hit.โ
โBut I wasnโt taking big shots. I wasnโt hurting that bad. There was less than two rounds left. How bad could it have been? This will bother me forever.โ
โYou were behind on points and you werenโt going to knock him out.โ
โHe wasnโt going to knock me out either. Losing is bad. Having it on my record that I got stopped is worse.โ
โNo one wanted to see you get hurt.โ
โAgainst Cotto, I got hurt worse. Against Cotto, I could have understood someone stopping it, although Iโm glad they didnโt. Tonight; oh, man; no way it should have been stopped.โ
The door to the dressing room opened and Ricky Hatton came in. Paulie rose and the fighters embraced.
โIt was a good fight, mate,โ Hatton said. โYou werenโt that far behind me. Most of the time, you were causing me murder.โ There were more compliments. Then Hatton left.
Paulie kicked a towel that was on the floor. โThe most important fight of my life and I didnโt finish. Iโm better than being stopped.โ
โYou didnโt get stopped. Someone else stopped it.โ
โYeah; but thatโs not what the record book will say. The record book will say โTKO by 11.โ It goes down in history now; Paulie Malignaggi got stopped.โ
โYou fought a good fight.โ
โNo, I didnโt. I fought like I was 40 years old. I saw openings, but my mind and hands wouldnโt connect.โ
โDid your hands give you trouble?โ
โMy hands are fine. How could I hurt my hands? I didnโt hit him all night.โ
โ โ โ
Fighters who rely on speed and reflexes as their edge over opponents peak young. That was true of Malignaggi, who never fought with the skill set or fire of his youth again. Still, there would be more fights and one more moment of glory.
On April 29, 2012, Paulie travelled to Ukraine and scored a ninth-round knockout of Vyacheslav Senchenko to claim a WBA 147lb title. But that win was sandwiched between losses to Juan Diaz (later avenged), Amir Khan (a knockout defeat), Adrien Broner (by disputed decision), and KO losses to Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, and Sam Eggington. Finally, at the end, there was an ill-conceived June 22, 2019 bare-knuckle fight that resulted in a loss to Artem Lobov.
Malignaggiโs final ring record (not counting the Lobov fight) was 36 wins (seven by knockout), eight losses (including five KOs). The fighter who inflicted the most physical damage on him was Miguel Cotto. But in many ways, Hatton-Malignaggi hurt more. โThat fight cost me my dreams,โ Paulie said years later. โIf I beat Hatton, I become a star. I might even have made it to the Hall of Fame. The way I fought that night will bother me till the day I die. It was like God gave me a gift when they made that fight and I f**ked it up.โ