Paulie ??the Magic Man?? Malignaggi is born and bred in the rough streets of New York City, Brooklyn to be exact. Malignaggi has been through ups and downs more often than a roller coaster ride. Through the thick fog of it all, Maliganaggi being the fighter that he is has always kept fighting. Even when so many felt the need to count him out, Malignaggi always digs deep into his soul to bounce back, it?s almost as if he thrives and feeds off of all the haters that try to throw shade in his direction. These days, Malignaggi puts in his hard work and gets his grind on in the City of Angels. From the legendary Gleasons gym in N.Y. to the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood, Malignaggi digs into his sleeve and pulls out a new trick, that must be why they call him the Magic Man.
This Saturday night Live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Malignaggi [28-4] will take on Jose Miguel Cotto [32-2-1] on HBO pay per view on the under card of Morales/Maidana.
I recently caught up with Malignaggi and this is what we discussed. Enjoy.
This weekend, you will get it on with Jose Cotto, You have already gotten it on with his brother Miguel. Is this the first time that you have fought against brothers? What about the schoolyards back in N.Y.C.?
PM- Yes, Haha, first time I have fought against bros, the closest brother rivalry I had as a kid was my younger brother fought this kids younger brother and I had to fight the older brother since their beefs kinda seeped to the older siblings lol, as far as me though this is my first time fighting brothers.
For those that have yet to see Jose Cotto throw down, how would you describe his style?
PM- I would describe Jose Cotto as a poor mans Miguel Cotto, they are both taught the same way and are both very fundamentally sound fighters who like to throw power punches, it just seems Miguel is sharper and crisper therefore he?s had a more successful career, still Jose gave very good accounts of himself in his losses, I would like to dominate him better than anyone else has.
Paulie you have been training out in Cali, how has Cali been treating you? You train at the Wild Card right? If so what is the atmosphere like compared to other gyms that you have trained at?
PM- I love training out of Cali, its a great city to train in cause it just seems a bit less hectic even though a lot of stuff still goes on, sometimes the speed at which NYC moves can stress you out. So training in Cali has been a welcome change, the Wildcard gym is excellent, great competitive atmosphere and at this point I don?t think there is a gym like it in the country maybe even the world.
From my mouth to Gods ears, after you beat Cotto, is it safe to say that you will go after one of the belt holders at 147 pounds to capture another world title?
PM- Yes, the plan is to fight for a world title in my next fight after this one, I don?t want to overlook Jose Cotto because he?s coming hungry but GBP have already begun negotiations for a world title fight for me in the summer.
One can never get too comfortable with they have, you can never stop learning in boxing. So since you have been out here in Cali what is the most important thing that you have learned?
PM- the most important lesson I?ve learned is probably not to take anything in this business for granted, the public and just people in general can be so fickle so having a level head is important.
Who trains you now? How did you hook up with your current trainer? Is West Coast sparring as fierce as they say it is?
PM- I am working with Eric Brown as my trainer, I went out west and checked out the gym, we did some pad/mitt work and we had a good chemistry so I hired him once I came out west. The sparring at Wildcard is great, it is the real deal, I have always been one to use hard sparring as my main way of getting in shape and getting sharp and Wildcard provides that in bundles.
I just saw you on the last episode of Lights Out which is a pretty good show aired on FX out here, how did that acting gig come about? Is acting next up for you after your fighting days are over?
PM- I had a good time doing that last episode of lights out, I was flattered that I was the fighter that was given the speaking part but it was a good time. The actor that plays the main character (Holt McCallany I believe is his real name) called me directly and asked me if I was up for doing the part, its tricky even though I had to play myself because I am saying rehearsed lines, like I said though it was fun, I could mos def see myself trying to do more acting if the opportunities present themselves.
Next week Victor Ortiz moves up in weight to take on Andre Berto, who wins and why?
PM- Berto vs Ortiz is a tough fight to call, I believe odd makers are sleeping on Victor a bit too much, as the odds I saw were too high in Berto?s favor. In my opinion, I slightly and I mean slightly favor Berto but Victor is more than capable of winning that fight, especially that for Berto it will be Ortiz who is the step up opponent and not the other way around, but Victor has faced the more consistently better opposition and is more than capable of pulling off the upset.
Thank you so much for your time, Any closing thoughts Paulie?
PM- Everyone order this PPV on Saturday night, you are getting a great bang for your buck with 4 solid fights, its not a case of shelling out your money for just the ppv this is a solid card from top to bottom and well worth the money.
