Paul Malignaggi
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| Paulie Malignaggi | |
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Paul Malignaggi |
| Nickname(s) | "The Magic Man" |
| Rated at | Junior welterweight |
| Height | 5 ft. 8½ in. (173 cm.) |
| Nationality |  American |
| Birth date | November 23, 1980 |
| Birth place | Brooklyn, New York |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 26 |
| Wins | 25 |
| Wins by KO | 5 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Paul "Paulie" Malignaggi aka "The Magic Man", (born November 23, 1980 in New York, USA) is a professional boxer from Brooklyn, New York.
Malignaggi won the IBF junior welterweight title after defeating Lovemore N'dou in June 2007.
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[edit] Biography
Malignaggi was born in Brooklyn, New York, but moved to Syracuse, Sicily in Italy, and then to Palazzolo Acreide, Sicily when he was a few months old and lived there until he was six years of age.
When his family moved back to the United States, Malignaggi only spoke Italian and Sicilian, but picked up the English language quickly.[citation needed]
His father left and his mother soon remarried. When he was 16, Malignaggi was thrown out of high school. He was living with his maternal grandparents at the time, and his grandfather Umberto Vinci and his uncle Dario Vinci took him to a boxing gym to see if it would keep Paulie out of trouble.[citation needed]
"I ended up loving the gym and have been there ever since." Malignaggi said. "I still remember my first day there. It was June 26, 1997. I remember training with my old trainer, Willie Badillo. He was teaching me a jab and right hand in front of the mirror, but throwing them really slowly to get the form down correctly. I started with a good foundation. I wrapped my hands and thought it looked so cool."
[edit] Amateur career
During Malignaggi amateur career, he trained at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. As an amateur, he won the 1998 and 2001 New York Golden Gloves Amateur Championship, as well as the 2001 United States National Amateur Championship.
Malignaggi also won the 2001 Everlast U.S. Championships on March 13-17, 2001 in Colorado Springs, Colo by beating Van Oscar Penovaroff, Antonio Davis, and Luis Merced, all by decision. his record was 40-9.
[edit] Professional career
The "Magic Man" made his professional debut at age 20 on July 7, 2001, and scored a first-round knockout over Thadeus Parker in Brooklyn. He won four more professional fights before his rookie campaign came to an end, including two by knockout. In 2002, Malignaggi went seven-for-seven in the ring, including a second-round TKO over Anthony Simpkins on Aug. 30 in New York City.
"I learned when I sit down on my punches, I do have some power there," Malignaggi said after the fight. "I just have to keep doing that. I have a tendency sometimes to use my legs a little too much. I kind of stayed calm against Simpkins."
He finished 2002 by defeating Paul Delgado across eight rounds on Nov 23 in Atlantic City. Despite tearing the ligaments in his right hand during the fight, Malignaggi won the split decision 78-74, 79-73 and 75-77.
Malignaggi did not fight for nearly seven months. However, when he returned on June 3, 2003, in Uncasville, Connecticut, the unbeaten boxer won a six-round unanimous decision over Shad Howard. Malignaggi sent Howard to the canvas in the third round and won by the scores 60-52 (twice) and 60-53.
Less than two months later on August 1, 2003, Malignaggi entered the ring against Kevin Watts in Red Sox country waving a New York Yankees flag with a Yankees emblem sewn on his trunks. Despite the unfriendly surroundings, Malignaggi scored a sixth-round TKO in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. The "Magic Man" dominated the fight by maintaining a busier pace and landing sharper punches. After scoring two knockdowns in the sixth round, the referee stopped the contest. Malignaggi put Watts flat on his back for the initial time with a series of right hands. The decisive knockdown came as Watts stuck his tongue out at Malignaggi. The Yankees fan promptly landed two right hands that had Watts flat on his face. "I am a Yankees fan," Malignaggi said afterward. "I knew I was going to be hated. Watts' fans were booing me. All his fans came up from Boston."
On October 24, 2003, Malignaggi fought closer to home in the Bronx, and earned an eight-round unanimous decision over Jesus Santiago. Malignaggi finished strongly in the last two rounds, and won by scores 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75.
Malignaggi completed a third consecutive perfect campaign on December 6, 2003, with an eight-round unanimous decision over Delgado on the Vitali Klitschko-Kirk Johnson undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York. Despite injuring his right hand again, Malignaggi won by the scores 80-72, 79-73 (twice). "With the first right hand I threw in the eighth, I hurt my hand and basically just danced with Delgado for the remainder of the round," Malignaggi said.[citation needed]
Malignaggi the tallied a 10-round unanimous decision over a game, but outgunned Rocky Martinez on April 22, 2004, in New York. From the outset, Martinez had no real answer for Malignaggi's speed. The up-and-coming New Yorker easily won the first and second rounds with a crisp, quick jab and decent combinations to the body. Martinez' nose began to bleed in the seventh, and worsened in the eighth. Malignaggi took the last two rounds en route to nearly shutting out Martinez. The judges scored the bout 99-91 (twice) and 98-92.
[edit] Cotto fight
On June 10, 2006, Paul Malignaggi faced the 25 year old, undefeated, Junior Welterweight, Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden. Malignaggi was down in the 2nd round and lost in a gruelling 12 round contest by a unanimous decision. He was left with a broken right cheek bone, a bleeding nose, and a cut around the left eye. Malignaggi, in his first loss, took it well. He was asked if there was to be a rematch with Cotto, and he stated that he would fight him again after he had had a few more matches if Cotto didn't go up in the weight. Malignaggi gained a lot of respect in this fight, he showed character and heart, in a fight that many thought would be extremely one sided.
On February 17, 2007, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Paulie Malignaggi defeated Edner Cherry (21-5-2) in a ten round unanimous decision (100-90, 98-92, 98-92) to improve his record to 22-1. The bout was televised on HBO's Boxing After Dark along with two other fights during the evening.
[edit] IBF world junior welterweight title
On June 16, 2007, Malignaggi defeated Lovemore N'dou via a 12 round unanimous decision to win the IBF World Junior Welterweight Championship. The bout was one-sided with one judge awarding Malignaggi a 120-106 score.
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On January 5, 2008, Malignaggi was the winner against Herman Ngoudjo in a highly competitive match. Malignaggi controlled the fight with his jab until he was stunned in the 7th round, but Ngoudjo failed to finish the job.After the seventh, Ngoudjo became ineffective with his aggression and came up short and lost a wide unanimous decision,which although fair, did not reflect the competitiveness of the fight.
On May 24, 2008, Malignaggi beat Lovemore N'Dou in a rematch by split decision to retain his IBF title. Malignaggi was in control for the first half of the fight, boxing behind his faster and crisper jab.[1] Prior to the fight, Malignaggi was sporting hair extensions which proved to be a problem throughout the fight until his trainer Buddy McGirt cut them off in his corner between rounds eight and nine. Malignaggi appeared sloppy in the second half of the fight as N'Dou came back to make the fight close. In the end, Malignaggi pulled out a close victory and also suffered a fractured right hand in the fight.[2] The win could setup a possible fight with Ricky Hatton later in 2008.[1]
[edit] Boxing style
Inside the ring, Malignaggi can best be described as a slickster. His adopts the "Hitman" stance popularized by Thomas Hearns, his left arm is kept beside his waist and he keeps his right hand at the chest level, leaving his head completely exposed. Consequently, he punches from his hips, something few boxers can pull off unless they have exceptional handspeed. Malignaggi moves around the ring well and counter-punches effectively against aggressive opponents. In spite of his lack of power, he is able to land clean shots while his opponents come forward. This resulted in a knockdown against Lovemore N'dou and proved to be a reliable weapon in staving off a tough and motivated Miguel Cotto.
[edit] Outside the ring
Malignaggi has been active outside the ring in the film industry, appearing in John Leguizamo's Undefeated and a documentary about his life titled Magic Man. Malignaggi has also modeled in clothing advertisements that have appeared in magazines such as Esquire, Playboy, and Frank 151.
His father, Sebastiano Malignaggi, is a well-known former professional soccer player, and still lives in Palazzolo Acreide, Sicily to this day. Paulie Malignaggi is quite famous in Sicily, he is affectionately known as "il Siciliano," and hopes to one day defend his world championship in Sicily. He is fluent in Italian, Sicilian and Spanish.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- www.paulmalignaggi.com - Paul Malignaggi official website
- Professional boxing record for Paul Malignaggi from Boxrec
- Interview
- Magic Man Film Review
- Becoming a People's Champ
| Preceded by Lovemore N'dou |
IBF junior welterweight champion June 16, 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
