Brick City Boxing

By Les Dowgier

Virtually every boxing fan who watched the highly entertaining August 22nd showdown between Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz, 35-2 (17 KOs), and Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi, 26-3 (5 KOs), was left with a bad taste in their mouth after a very questionable decision denied Malignaggi a victory which appeared to be rightfully his. Well it is now official; the rematch that most of the boxing world wished for (and Malignaggi so vocally and rightfully demanded) is set for Dec. 12th at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.

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I believe I speak on behalf of all boxing fans when I applaud the making of this rematch. The August 22nd decision, though by no means one of the worst robberies in the history of the sport, left most fans frustrated that this was yet another black eye for the sport. Malignaggi made Diaz miss constantly and out-landed The Baby Bull with cleaner and crisper shots throughout the entire fight. Though most fans would admit that the fight probably could have gone to Juan in a close decision, as he was the one pressing the action, it did appear as if Paulie was the better fighter that night, and when one of the judges scored it 118-110 for the fighter from Houston, it was quite obvious that a little hometown cooking was being dished out.

Now that Paulie has the rematch he so emphatically demanded, can he step up to the challenge and deliver? It would seem like a no-brainer that having already defeated the Houston-born fighter in the eyes of most fans, Malignaggi could repeat his performance against Diaz and once again come out on top. However, lately, Paulie has had some problems with consistency and coming out flat in fights (not to mention of course those oft-injured hands). After handily defeating Lovemore N'dou for the IBF light welterweight belt back in June of 2006, followed by a solid win over Herman Ngoudjo, Malignaggi failed to impress in his rematch with N'dou (though this was partly due to a hand injury suffered in the fight and a now infamous hair fiasco). In his very next fight, Paulie challenged Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton for the Mancunian’s IBO light welterweight belt and looked subpar to say the least, prompting Paulie’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, to stop the fight in the 11th round. Next came the Diaz fight, where Paulie once again looked great, seemingly regaining the form which eluded him since the first N’dou fight.

After the fight with Diaz, Malignaggi was more than a little irate, which he made very apparent during his post-fight interview and during the post-fight press conference. He demanded and certainly deserved a rematch. Well, Paulie got what he wanted; a rematch in a neutral setting (though I may have to take back these words after the judges are chosen). Now the question is, will Paulie deliver? Though I have no doubt that he has the talent and feel that he will once again defeat Diaz (and this time actually get the decision to go along with it), another flat performance would greatly (and perhaps permanently) derail this gifted young fighter’s career.