OfficialScoreCard.com had the chance to speak with owner of Dibella Entertainment Lou Dibella. The legendary figure in boxing spoke with us regarding the recent comments Willie Savannah made about the potential rematch with Dibella Entertainment fighter Paulie Malignaggi. Lou, candid as usually gave an insightful look at the situation regarding that potential rematch.
OSC: So what’s happening with the rematch with Juan Diaz for your fighter Paulie Malignaggi?
LD: Well first off, a majority of that people that watched that fight thought Paulie had won, and you know that outcry of that fight, you don’t get a reaction like that in the most major of events. Even in his hometown (Diaz) people thought that he didn’t win that fight and I really believe at some point he knew he had lost that fight. I saw someone whisper the scores to him before it got announced and all of a sudden they acted pleased. His mother was crying and his corner looked like they were at a funeral before the results were announced. You know this is a perfect example, a mega fight with Marquez? People saw that fight the first time, Diaz got knocked the hell out! A mega fight with Hatton? Hatton’s is not even f***ing active! What other mega fight were they mentioning, Robert Guerrero? With all due respect, is the world waiting to see Robert Guerrero again? The biggest fight for Juan Diaz right now is with Paulie Malignaggi and the biggest fight for Malignaggi is Diaz. I’m not going to get into debating with Willie Savannah on who needs it more but the reality is boxing needs it. I think it’s going to happen because boxing needs it, Golden Boy realizes this and HBO does and I realize that and the fight is going to happen.
OSC: So the fight is official then?
LD: No it’s not official. When I find out that Willie and The Baby Bull have signed on the dotted line and I have a contract in my possession that I can sign then we will be announcing it. In terms of agreement in principle I have worked out everything with Richard Schaefer. So we’ve reached in agreement in principle and we have to figure out where the site is going to be. Interestingly the place with the highest guarantee right now is Atlantic City and Willie doesn’t want to go to Atlantic City. In respects to New York, the problem was the garden was booked for a Christmas show from Nov 15th to Jan 15th. So there was no place in New York City to do it. If you look at the Prudential Center, which is a AEG venue and Golden Boy has a relationship with them, there is a New Jersey Devils hockey game at that venue and the other venue in New Jersey was also booked as well as the two venues in Connecticut. So it was like Paulie can’t sell no tickets, it was a matter of the places had interest but none of them were available. So as of right now the highest guarantee that has been presented to me and Golden Boy has been Atlantic City.
OSC: In a recent interview we did with Willie Savannah, he made it seem like Paulie couldn’t sell no tickets.
LD: The funny part is I was at the last fight and it wasn’t like the room was packed. It wasn’t the type of crowd that was there when he had that double header with Rocky Juarez. That last fight in Houston wasn’t like there was a huge crowd or his promoter made a killing at the gate. Willie should worry about managing The Baby Bull and leave the business to business people like Richard Schaefer.
OSC: So your saying the rematch would most likely take place in Atlantic City?
LD: No, I’m saying the highest offer came from Atlantic City so far but Willie will not agree to a fight there. So I’m saying the fight is most likely to happen in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay or in Chicago, but there is no site right now.
OSC: So in that same recent interview Willie states that Diaz was going to take a pay cut if he took this rematch with Paulie and they were not to hot about that?
LD: I have nothing to do with what Juan gets paid, you’d have to talk to Richard about what Juan gets paid. I’ll tell you this, it’s not unusual when your in a controversial fight when you don’t clearly win the fight it’s not unusual to make the same amount. My understanding is he’s not getting a pay cut, but I’ll say this, he got a gift decision in a fight in which he got slapped around a bit in and you would expect you wouldn’t get a raise in your next fight and particularly in this market. He is still getting paid better than most world champions. Lemme tell you something, I have guys holding world title belts right now that would be very happy to get what Diaz got when he fought Paulie the first time. Believe me, there are world champions that would love to get that kinda money. I’m not begrudging Willie any money, his job is to get Diaz the most money he can get him and I’m not begrudging him anything, what he gets paid is between him and his promoter.
OSC: Diaz did get paid a little bit more than Paulie, It seems if Paulie was willing to take a pay cut to go fight in Houston, why shouldn’t Juan go ahead and be willing to do that for Paulie when Paulie did that for him?
LD: Look, the idea was this was going to be a 50/50 deal. But at a 50/50 deal after it was agreed upon with Golden Boy, Willie was not willing to deliver his fighter. At that point it was up to Paulie to decide and Di Bella Entertainment to decide along with Paulie’s lawyer to decide if we should let the fight go or do what we have to do to get it, even if it means we cut ourselves. What we elected to do was to go back and cut ourselves and we accepted ultimately a deal that was worse than what we originally had. If that’s what was necessary to get that fight then so be it, and the best thing Paulie can do to even things out and frankly to turn everything around is to beat him again. So God willing, all the contracts will be signed, Juan and Willie will feel like they got a fair deal and we will feel like we got a good deal that we can live with and we will go out and have a big event.
OSC: Ok so…
LD: Hold on, I actually do feel like this fight captured the public’s imagination and I think there is alot of people that are interested in this rematch. This potential rematch has gotten as much or more attention than supposedly big fights. I think no matter where this is, its going to be successful and their will be a big audience on HBO. So I’m just waiting for everything to get signed before there is a formal announcement.
OSC: If the rematch takes place what weight will it be at?
LD: At 139 in a 20 foot ring.
OSC: Ok, because I know Diaz’s camp did not want to take the fight at 140
LD: Yea, they wouldn’t take the fight at 140, and we agreed to 139.
OSC: If this rematch does not happen where does Paulie go from here?
LD: Paulie will have loads of opportunities if this rematch does not happen but I’m not thinking like that. Like I said, Juan Diaz needs this rematch as much as Paulie needs it. Boxing needs it and HBO really has a great storyline they can put on the air so the fights going to happen unless Willie and Juan decide not to do it and I don’t think they are going to do that. I think both of them have enough pride that the fight is gonna happen. But there will be plenty of alternatives for Paulie whether it be with Marcos Maidana, or Victor Ortiz, Timothy Bradley which would be a big fight right now. Juan Urango which is a great contrast of styles and there wouldn’t be a shortage of fights for Paulie. With all due respect to Juan, I think Paulie had more to do with the TV rating than Juan did.
OSC: Well I’ll be the first to admit that Paulie is pretty entertaining
LD: This is the entertainment business and Paulie Malignaggi is a character. This is why this kid can actually if he is able to keep winning, can still become a star. He’s only 29 and this is the entertainment business. The kid, he may not have a big punch but he has a big mouth and a lot of pazzam. Not to mention he is extremely fast and people care about him, people are interested in him. You know it was said on the broadcast that Paulie didn’t do himself any favors with that speech but Bob Papa should definitely reconsider that statement. I think he did himself a world of good with that speech. He made himself a load of fans and there is going to be a rematch because of it.
OSC: What did you think of his comments after the fight?
LD: He didn’t mean that boxing sucks and he hates boxing. No one loves boxing as much as Paulie Malignaggi. He lives and breathes it and he is a gym rat. He’s sparring everyday, he’s never out of the gym and he watches every fight on TV and goes to every fight he can go to. He loves to announce fights and do on air stuff and no one loves it like he does. You know, someone just stole something that was important from him. You don’t know what kinda fight he would of gotten if he would of gotten that decision. He knew in his heart he won it, he told the whole world he was gonna get robbed before and then he got robbed. What did you expect him to do, give away pieces of birthday cake, dance in the ring in celebration? When you have potentially millions of dollars taken away from you and a whole career path changed on a bad decision you might mother f**k the whole world also. Most people who heard that speech agreed with him also! First of all it got like a gazillion hits on youtube when someone put it up, but when you look at the comments the overwhelming amount of people who saw that, agreed with him. I think he was just in the heat of the moment, I don’t think he meant everything he said, but I still think he made a lot of fans by saying it and it put a lot of pressure on making a rematch necessary.
Visit OfficialScoreCard.com for part two of this interview where Lou Dibella shares his thought on the super six middleweight tournament and his fighter, Jermaine Taylor’s chances as well as his thoughts on the upcoming Pacquaio/Cotto fight.
