He is known as “The Magic Man”, but the only trick Paul Malignaggi wants to perform is making Amir Khan disappear. There has now been confirmation that Khan’s American debut, and his first under the Golden Boy promotion banner, will definitely be against the New Yorker Malignaggi for his WBA light-welterweight belt.
It looks like Khan is finally getting serious and without a shadow of a doubt Malignaggi represents his toughest test yet.
Malignaggi looks like something out of an 80’s film, a Brooklyn native with Italian lineage; he has sported some unusual haircuts and is a passionate boxer who fights with a lot of heart. He’s no push over having previously held the IBF title at 140lbs and taken on the likes of Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Juan Diaz in his career.
Malignaggi is not the most powerful puncher, having scored only five knockouts in his 27 victories, but he is certainly an exciting boxer to watch. He is all swagger and style, he bounces around the ring with his left hand at his hip and tries to dazzle his opponents over the course of 12 rounds rather than look for knockout blows. He’s not quite in the mix as the best around but a good outsider, a Europa League boxer rather than a Champions League.
As for Khan we all know about him, the youngster is a bundle of raw potential but his head is beginning to get turned by the Americans and he’s lost some of that humble quality that made him a likable character at first. Without doubt Khan is world class rather than domestic and this is a good fight for him, a biggish name who is beatable. The Magic Man’s lack of punching power has always been his drawback while arguably Khan’s biggest weakness that we know of is his suspect chin. It’s some good fight matching by Freddie Roach.
There has been plenty of speculation as to whom Khan will fight in recent months. Originally it looked set to be Marcos Maidana which would have been one h**l of a test for the pride of Bolton. Maidina is just what Khan doesn’t need: fast, strong, hungry and dangerous. Roach steered clear of him like the plague and you worry that Khan’s career is going to be so finely micro-managed that we could see him fighting only beatable pugilists and wondering about what could have been.
Still, Malignaggi is a step in the right direction and above all it should be a great fight between two showmen. Anyone who saw Malignaggi in his fights against Diaz, particularly the second one, would have seen a fighter full of heart - he’s got a great chin and will box all day long. However Hatton proved that if you close down the ring and pummel him he’s not going to be able to come back and you would expect to see similar tactics from Khan.
Of course another one of Maglinaggi’s weaknesses is his hair, not in a Sampson way but in a so ridiculous he can’t see way. Against Lovemore N’dou, Malignaggi’s hair extensions were so long they completely got in his way - he looked like the Medusa and needed a haircut in round seven just so he could see what he was doing. Blind courage may be heroic, blind jabbing is just comical.
Khan has been quick to write-off Malignaggi. Obviously all fighters go into a fight confident but dismissing Malignaggi as “not at my level” could come back to haunt him and prove disrespectful to a man who stepped into the ring with Cotto and Hatton. Khan has shown guts to go to New York to fight Malignaggi in his own backyard and everyone in boxing knows that home advantage can be decisive.
It’s another good fight as 2010 begins to shape up quite nicely in the world of boxing. Malignaggi is going to need to bring his cape and wand to this one and if he does an over-confident Khan might begin to believe in magic by the end of the night.
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