One thing you learn quickly in boxing is that what seems farfetched today often turns into reality down the long and winding road.
So, don’t heckle me when I inform that Golden Boy Promotions has an end game with new signee Paulie ?Magic Man? Malignaggi, the Brooklyn boxer with the feather impact punch.
Malignaggi split bitterly with 10 year promoter Lou DiBella a few months ago and it cost the Goldens $65,000 to pacify Uncle Lou for his roster loss.
Now GBP has constant Manny Pacquiao critic Malignaggi making his Golden debut Dec. 18 at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins-Jean Pascal show.
The idea, a boxing insider familiar with GBP’s plan, is to put Malignaggi, who turns 30 on Nov. 23, in the main event of the first boxing card at the sparkling new Barclays Center in Brooklyn in the spring of 2012.
Golden Boy is locked in as the exclusive fight promoter at the facility and there is talk of 12 boxing cards being held there per year.
Look at this way, it’s a good photo opp for wanna be rap music mogul ?Money May? with Jay-Z, Brooklyn native, rap superstar and part owner of the NBA Nets who are migrating from Newark to the new arena.
Malignaggi, who has had surgery on both of his brittle hands, owns a 27-4 record with a measly five knockouts.
Yo Paulie has consistently accused Pacman of cheating by using illegal steroids and other banned drugs although he’s never offered any legitimate proof that the Pinoy Idol is dirty.
Malignaggi may have zero chance to thwart the undefeated Mayweather but his record offers some credibility in that his losses have all been to marquee names Amir Khan, Ricky Hatton, Juan Diaz and Miguel Cotto.
Khan and Hatton both halted Malignaggi in the 11th round while Diaz won an unjustified decision and then lost to the New Yorker in a rematch. Malignaggi showed real heart in losing a unanimous decision to Boricua Bomber Cotto.
Malignaggi’s fight in Canada is set for a 147 pound limit.
While this story may seem absurd in November, 2010, check back with me, please, around February of 2012.
