Q&A with Paulie 'Magic Man' Malignaggi

606v2 is proud to announce that Paul has now returned the answers to the questions you asked him. For those of you who dont know much about Paul, one of our members has very kindly written an excellent little bio on him as a way of introduction. Many thanks to Rowley for helping with this.

Starting his career as a pro in 2001 Paulie Malignaggi went 21 fights unbeaten, a record that earned him a title shot at WBO light welter weight champion, the at the time unbeaten Miguel Cotto. Whilst he fell a little short in this effort few who witnessed it will readily forget Paulie's bravery and heart, with him pushing Miguel all the way in what was comfortably his toughest test to date. On the back of this fight it was little wonder Paulie earned another title shot this time against Lovemore N'Dou for the IBF title and this time Paulie made no mistake winning the title he would go onto defend three times.

As a light welterweight Paulie's record reads like a who's who of the division with the likes of Hatton Juan Diaz and Khan joining the aforementioned Cotto and N'Dou on the list of those faced. In fact Paulie has faced Diaz twice, dropping a contentious decision first time round before getting the deserved result second time round in what many consider a career best performance. On the back of a defeat to rising star of the division Amir Khan, Paulie has moved up to welter weight and is unbeaten in his two fights at the new weight.

Whilst not possessing a massive punch Paulie has established himself as a slick boxer and mover with a heart and chin that is the equal of anyone in the game. Outside the ring, apart from some questionable hair decisions Paulie has earned a reputation with being as quick with his mouth as he is with his fists and in interviews he comes across as articulate and forthright in offering his opinions on what he feels are the games ills, irrespective of how many or whose feathers those opinions may ruffle.

Here are the unedited answers from Paul:

You're not shy of a little trash talking before fights, so who inspired your trash talk and who tries and fails?

Well, no one really inspired me to trash talk, I guess its just part of the business. This is a sport of fighting and trash talk just comes with the territory but Floyd Mayweather is one of the greats who can talk the talk and walk the walk.

Does it bother you being known for a low KO%?

It doesn't bother me at all, I was born with the skill to box and it got me this far in the sport of boxing. So, you have to take the good with the bad. Of course I would like to be able to knock fighters out but Boxing circles around fighters is just as great. It's about the Win at the end of the day.

Are you looking for a world title fight? And if so against which champion?

I am looking to get back in the mix of things, me and Devon Alexander have been Poopie talking back and forth. Not sure what HBO has in store for this year, but I would like to make Devon my next dinner plate.

You are known for being one TOUGH S.O.B, who's punches hurt you the most? Cotto, Hatton or Khan?

Miguel Cotto by far is the hardest hitting fighter I have ever faced.

What was the thinking behind the outfit at the weigh in for the Jose Luis Cotto fight?

The theme was action hero's, so i played an action hero lol

You're known for having an iron chin but being a fairly light puncher. If you could switch these and and be a massive puncher but slightly chinny, while maintaining you're all round boxing ability would you? How do think your career would have gone particularly you're fights against Hatton, Khan and Cotto?

Well, if I had no chin against miguel cotto that secound round I got dropped probably would a been a knock out LOL. So, I would rather have my chin I guess.

If you retired today, what do you think you would be most remembered for?

Someone who faced the best and never quit in the ring.

You were very vocal about the steroid debate surrounding manny pacquiao. What is your opinion of drug testing in boxing and do you think the regulations need to be changed - if so, in what way?

I think boxing needs steroid testing

Who wins, Mayweather or Pacquiao?

Floyd

Who is your favourite Italian/American fighter of all time?

Gatti is one of my favorites.

What sort of food do you like to eat when you are not in camp?

I'll eat anything, especially Italian food

Who's gonna win Judah v Khan?

Well, Khan won lol

You say you only do boxing because of the 'good pay day' was that a quote stated with anger because of the decision to Diaz or is it true? If true surely you have earned enough to live off of?

True and false. I love boxing but I also need to get paid

What was the thinking behind the move to welterweight. Were you struggling to make weight as moving up will surely mean your power - somewhat low anyway - will make even less of an impact?

Yes, I couldn't make weight for 140 anymore.

How far do you see the move at welterweight taking you?

Hopefully another shot at a world title.

Career after boxing?

Acting

Khan or Hatton who was better?

Both great fighters

Who inspires you to try the different hair cuts? You've done a bit of modelling and acting in the past. Is this a career you would consider and does it have any impact on your thoughts on when you will retire?

I would do acting and modeling send me the contracts lol. I pick the hair styles myself.

How much do you think your hand issues have affected your career? Do you feel you would of been able to beat Hatton/Cotto had you been able to unload without concern for your hands?

Tons, I broke my hand in my 5th pro fight.

In hindsight - do you now think Buddy McGirt was right to stop the fight against Hatton?

No, long story about that one

After the Khan fight, you didn't seem to know what went wrong. Do you now know what mistakes you made?

Yes, I know exactly went wrong with that one.

Did you fire your hairdresser after the N'Dou fight?

Nope ha.

Do you plan on moving into commentary full time after boxing or do you have other interests? You've been very critical of how hard it is to gain publicity or a profile in the sport in the past. Where do you think the blame lies for this?

Hopefully more movies and maybe a reality show.

Pure speculation but having fought them both how would you have seen a Hatton vs Khan fight going?

Might see Khan boxing him to victory.

Please rank the following in terms of achievement:

• Winning the IBF LWW belt.

• Stopping an opponent last year for the first time in donkey's years.
  

• Nintendo using him as the model for the character 'Little Mac' in the sequel to Punch-Out!! for the Wii.

Which of your defeats disappointed you the most?

Hatton

Many thanks to Paul for answering our questions - please leave your comments below. If you havent already joined 606v2, please do so here - Register

Fascinating stuff, and another great coup for the forum.

Well done to Hobo for setting it up and to jeff ( rowley, ) for the excellent intro.

Good job Kev setting it up.

I think he lost a few fans on here using LOL.

"In hindsight - do you now think Buddy McGirt was right to stop the fight against Hatton?
No, long story about that one

After the Khan fight, you didn't seem to know what went wrong. Do you now know what mistakes you made?
Yes, I know exactly went wrong with that one."

Could have went a bit further with his answers to these!

Great job guys, going to get a read now.

Nice work Kev!

Some interesting answers, though perhaps a little tight-lipped. Still, seems like a good guy. No doubt made rowley's hit list with the 'lol's...

Scottrf wrote:Good job Kev setting it up.

100% agree - nothing to do with me other than sending a email on Kevs behalf. He is by far the one who deserves the credit (along with Rowley for the intro).

Keep it up Kev

Scottrf wrote:Good job Kev setting it up.

From me also, Kev, and I'm sorry I was so damned rude as to neglect to include you in my first comment.

Great stuff Kev, cheers! 606v2 really has made some big waves since being created, I doubt there's a better sports forum anywhere.

Thanks again, another great steal.

BALTIMORA wrote:Some interesting answers, though perhaps a little tight-lipped. Still, seems like a good guy. No doubt made rowley's hit list with the 'lol's...

I slaved over that introduction, Windy didn't warn me about his liberal use of L*L, feel like I have been had over.

Lol

Yeah nice one Kev, good stuff mate.

Oh, and kudos / thanks to Jeff for Pawwwlie's mini bio, too!

Great stuff for getting the interview!

For a guy with such a big gob he did't let much go did he?

"long story about that one"

fancy...telling the story?

Ha woulnd't have minded him expanding on his answers but ah well seems like an ok guy.

good work guys but i am slighty disappointed in paulies answers alot of one word answers and not too much to show his character behind the mouth persona. i found the martinez q and a much more fasinating and some great answers in his.

Really good article / interview. Hatton loss obviously grates..... Is this sour grapes? Could he ever have caused Hatton issues.

On a side note after the second question was it wrong for my focus to be stuck on Rowley? For a tough S.O.B he uses LOL more than the slightly iffeminte 20 yr old 'new media' guy my missus has as an intern.....

Another good Q&A, well done to everyone involved. I'm a bit disappointed my Mayorga question wasn't asked. I follow him on twitter and there is quite a bit of bad blood between the two. Although Mayorga seems to have a problem with most people.

I've noticed he says he wants to fight Alexander but says he can't make LWW anymore. Would Alexander step up to WW for the fight? Wouldn't seem to be in his best interests to do so.

Awesome he answered my question!!! *swoon*

Again, great Q+A Hobo!

6oldenbhoy wrote:Another good Q&A, well done to everyone involved. I'm a bit disappointed my Mayorga question wasn't asked. I follow him on twitter and there is quite a bit of bad blood between the two. Although Mayorga seems to have a problem with most people.

I've noticed he says he wants to fight Alexander but says he can't make LWW anymore. Would Alexander step up to WW for the fight? Wouldn't seem to be in his best interests to do so.

We did ask the question about Mayorga but he didnt answer it. So I took it out of the answer thread as opposed to leaving a blank.

compelling and rich wrote:good work guys but i am slighty disappointed in paulies answers alot of one word answers and not too much to show his character behind the mouth persona. i found the martinez q and a much more fasinating and some great answers in his.

Tend to agree, fortunately the introduction elevates this Q&A above the humdrum

Great job Kev!

Great work by all concerned, I particularly like the bio.

Rowley, how did you do the intro bearing in mind that Paulie is a modern fighter who fights in color and not black and white? I would've thought he'd be about 40 years too modern for you....

Union Cane wrote:Great work by all concerned, I particularly like the bio.

So do I Union, clearly the work of a talented and knowledgable writer.

Hobo wrote:

6oldenbhoy wrote:Another good Q&A, well done to everyone involved. I'm a bit disappointed my Mayorga question wasn't asked. I follow him on twitter and there is quite a bit of bad blood between the two. Although Mayorga seems to have a problem with most people.

I've noticed he says he wants to fight Alexander but says he can't make LWW anymore. Would Alexander step up to WW for the fight? Wouldn't seem to be in his best interests to do so.

We did ask the question about Mayorga but he didnt answer it. So I took it out of the answer thread as opposed to leaving a blank.

Not a problem. Mayorga is possibly the funniest guy on twitter. In the past few days he's called out Paulie, Khan, Kirkland, Chavez jr and Paul Williams, as well as abusing Kimbo Slice. He's also taught me a few Spanish swear words which have become a staple part of my vocabulary.

great Bio Rowley and great write up guys, i think you used one of my qu too so ta very much. This forum is by far the best. Does anyone know how many vistors 606v2 is getting ??

Last month there was about 90,000 posts. Bearing in mind most threads have 1 post to 10 views ratio, the views on the threads came to about 900.000.

that does not include hits on the home page or subsection pages. I therefore conclude that we are most probable getting close to (if not more) 1.5m hits per month.

Great again. Really enjoying these. Felt a bit sorry for Paulie, some of those questions were really laying in about his lack of KO power!

What happened to the questions about modern training techniques and modern sports science?

Impressive numbers. How do they compare to sites like Eastside, or do you not have those figures?

Eastside has 9.4 million posts in just over 4 years I believe.

Scottrf wrote:Eastside has 9.4 million posts in just over 4 years I believe.

It is a pretty horrible forum to post on mind. You have 13yo Americans calling you 'Biatch' and threatening to kill you whilst on Mummy's computer.

Yeah, the Brit forum isn't too bad though, but you're right.

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

Scottrf wrote:Eastside has 9.4 million posts in just over 4 years I believe.

It is a pretty horrible forum to post on mind. You have 13yo Americans calling you 'Biatch' and threatening to kill you whilst on Mummy's computer.

So thats what Balti does when he's not on here

I'm a bit disappointed with Paulie's short answers. He never shuts up. Clearly never wanted to elaborate on Buddy McGirt stopping the hatton fight although it would have been good to know his thoughts.

Yeah shame he didn't elaborate a bit more, though I suppose we were spoilt slightly by Sergio Martinez with his cracking answers.

True I did think Paulie would be good he constantly tweets and has never met a microphone he doesn't like. Very cagey I think his answers will have been checked over by a PR man tbh.