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08/24/2005 Archived Entry: "The Magic Man Reappears"
The Magic Man Reappears
An exclusive interview with Paul Malignaggi
By J.D. Vena
For a young boxer, eight months of inactivity can feel like an eternity, especially when you’re a budding prospect with boat loads of potential or the fans of such a boxer. That’s been the case for the 24-year old native of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Paul “Magic Man” Malignaggi, who to the delight of his devoted followers, returns to the ring tomorrow night after recovering from his second hand surgery in a career that’s only 4 ½ years old.
Unbeaten in 19 professional bouts, Malignaggi was beginning to fulfill his impending stature by reeling off win after win on such networks as ShowBox and ESPN2. His elusive style and his charisma in the ring had electrified audiences and it was expected that it would only be a matter of time when we’d be mentioning his name among other top fighters in the talent laden jr. welterweight division. He was becoming a hot commodity and a personality that boxing needed. In his last bout in December however, he suffered an injury that put the eager combatant on the shelf for most of this year. Malignaggi underwent the Tommy John surgery for boxers when a small piece of bone from the hip was removed and fused to the hand for reinforcement.
One boxer that benefited from the rewards of this intricate procedure was “Irish” Micky Ward of Lowell, MA. The now retired Ward experienced the displeasure of bad-hand syndrome early in his career. Ward wasn’t able to use his hands and skills to the best of his ability and the injuries helped prompt a three-year hiatus from the ring. A different fighter returned following the surgery, which helped catapult Ward into the spotlight, a place Malignaggi covets.
This year Malignaggi signed with his new manager, Sal Lonano, the same manager that guided Micky Ward to fame and fortune. So it isn’t too much coincidence that Malignaggi ended up having the same procedure performed by Dr. Steven Margles of the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA, the same MD that treated Ward. Though he is still a very proud Yankees fan, The Magic Man who has been rehabbing and training in Massachusetts, has become a fixture in the New England fight scene. He’s attended just about every boxing card as well as fund raisers and he’s also been training at the World Gym of Tewksbury, the same gym where Ward’s new charge, Jeff Fraza (of Haverhill, MA) from the Contender series, has been training.
It didn’t take long for a war of words to begin between the two boxers and it didn’t take much longer for the giant, framed, autographed photo of Fraza, which was given to gym by Fraza, to be turned around every time Malignaggi was training there. The whereabouts of that photo is now unknown. When the CBZ would ask who could have been responsible for this act, the mischievous, yet charming Magic Man would simply grin about this mysterious “disappearing act.”
Whether his situation with Fraza truly upset him or not, Malignaggi is now home sweet home in New York, where he awaits to re-enter the boxing ring, his favorite home. Recently the CBZ sat down with Malignaggi who discussed his career, his hands, his future and new enemies.
CBZ: You’ve been inactive for over eight months due to your right hand problem. When did this problem arise?
PM: The injuries to my hand happened early in my career and I’ve had two surgeries to repair two different problems (Holds out his right fist to show the two distinctive scars.) The first surgery was in November of 2002 which happened right after my 12th pro fight.* I was experiencing problems with my hand for about a year before that fight. After that surgery I had another surgery to repair it last December and now I’ve been off for 8 months because of it. The first surgery was to repair a torn tendon and the second one was the same procedure that Micky Ward had (where they fuse bone fragment from the hip to the hand to make it sturdy) after I broke my hand. I broke it almost a year before that but just kept adding fractures to it.
CBZ: A lot of fighters at this stage in their career are fighting once every three months or so. How discouraging has this been for you and are there any positives you can get out of this inactivity?
PM: Well you always try to stay optimistic. It’s been tough because I’ve had two surgeries already this early in my career. After the first surgery I thought I’d come back strong but then it started breaking on me. It’s kind of tough to be optimistic about the whole situation but you have to stay positive. It’s given me a lot of time in the gym, I’ve learned some new things and I signed with my new manager, Sal Lonano. That’s definitely a positive and they are going to move me in the right direction. You just have to try to take as much of the positives as you can. I was one of the hottest prospects in boxing. Every time I’ve been on TV, there’s been an explosion. I had drawn a lot of attention to myself being on ShowBox but then I wasn’t able to do it on a regular basis because of the injuries to my hand. I’ve fallen off in terms of popularity, but it doesn’t bother me because once I’m back and I’m on TV, I’m just going to be throwing, throwing and throwing.
CBZ: What prompted you to sign with the Sal Lonano, a Massachusetts based boxing promoter and manager?
PM: I’ve always been friendly with the Lonanos. I fought on their show a few years ago at Hampton Beach when I knocked out Kevin Watts. Sal and his son Frank have been very good for my team along with Lou Dibella.
CBZ: Has your same confidence in your hands and your ability returned having been off for eight months.
PM: I’m always confident but of course there’s always going to be a bit of doubt in the back of your mind because (my hands) haven’t felt healthy for a long period of time. I’ve gotten use to fighting with one hand God forbid I do something to it again but I just have to keep telling myself that the right hand is back.
CBZ: You’re fight next weekend with Jeremy Yelton has been moved from Madison Square Garden to a smaller but also well known venue, the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. It’s not as glamorous as MSG but, it’s smack dab in your home city. What’s it like to fight in front of those so close to home?
PM: I like the primetime stages. I love fighting in front of my hometown because of all the support there. I also haven’t been there in a while because I’ve been in camp here (in Haverhill, MA). It’s going to be fun being back at home seeing my friends and family. Hopefully, I can give them a great show because I intend to do just that.
CBZ: I’m sure you’ve probably heard that ESPN is going to run the next season of the hit series, ‘The Contender.’ You clearly have the personality for that show. Would it interest you to compete on that show?
PM: Well, I’d have to see where I am in my career before they have their tryouts. I went to the New York tryouts when they had them for the first season and they loved me man. After the interview, they told me to just sign up. They said, “Come to LA. This is just a formality for you. If you come to LA, you’re in.’ I told them I don’t want to waste their time. I told them that if they promised me it’s in my weight class, I’m in. I told them I wouldn’t go if it wasn’t going to be my weight. They kept calling me. Then they kept calling my promoter, Lou Dibella, hoping he could convince me to go.
I bring everything that show would want. I would steal the Contender, but like I told them, it’s gotta be right for Paulie Malignaggi. My main goal is to be the best fighter in the world not to be the best fighter on the Contender. I can make my millions later but I gotta do what’s right for me.
CBZ: If you were on the show, who are some of the fighters you’d like to have on the show to compete against?
PM: First of all, could you imagine if they used jr. welterweights for their show? I mean the talent is at 140 pounds. They should have used the jr. welterweights in the first place. The most talent in boxing is in this division. I mean you could bring back Alfonso Gomez. You could have Mighty Mike Arnaoutis, Oscar Diaz, Francisco Bojado, Kendall Holt and (Al) Speedy Gonzalez. Could you imagine all these good up and coming fighters living in the same house with all kinds of different personalities competing for one million dollars? It just boggles my mind why they didn’t use 140-pounders in the first place. Everyone knows it’s the deepest division in boxing but I would definitely steal the show. I mean with my personality? They thought Ahmed Khaddour was bad? I’d steal that show, man.
CBZ: Another Contender happens to train here (at World Gym here in Tewksbury) and will begin training for his up and coming fight with Alfonso Gomez. Jeff “The Hellraza” Fraza who won an undercard fight on the night of the season finale trains here under the eye of Micky Ward. WE understand there has been a war of words between the two of you. Can you explain what that’s all about?
PM: I guess maybe he felt a little threatened about his position in the New England area and decided to bad mouth me. Maybe he’s the more known jr. welterweight around here and he didn’t like that I was training around here. There were some derogatory thing said about me and I never had even said anything, good or bad about Jeff Fraza until I heard he was talking trash. So I think he felt that his position was threatened which is why he was saying some of those things.
CBZ: What were some of those things that you heard he had said?
PM: He told me that he wouldn’t fight me in the ring and that he’d fight me in the parking lot. If I had to fight him in a parking lot, I would make it a fair fight by just slapping him because it would be unfair to close my fists. I’d slap him to death. I mean, I didn’t come hear to steal anyone’s show. I was brought here by my good managers, the Lonanos to get in shape. Believe me, me and Jeff Fraza will most likely never wind up in the ring together because he will not become a top ten contender.
We’re going in different paths. Hopefully, for his sake, he can make some money with the Contender. I’m going for world titles. I’m expected to win world titles. If I don’t win a world title, then people will consider it a huge disappointment. Fraza is another story.
CBZ: Every once in a while, a popular, very good Italian-American boxer comes around. The last of note was perhaps Paul Spadafora of Pittsburgh. Do you think you’re the next of a long line of fan friendly boxers?
PM: I feel like the torch has been passed on to me. There were lots of great Italian-Americans of the past, particularly in the 40s and 50s. So when one comes around, there is a big responsibility of living up to the hype. You want to represent our ethnic group in a positive way and prove (Italian-Americans) can still fight if we decide to get into the sport. I’m going to represent the right way and win multiple world titles.
CBZ: Your opponent Thursday night is Jeremy Yelton, a fighter who has recently fought as high as 157 pounds. What do you know about him and is it too soon to be facing a fighter with a good record (16-1)?
PM: I don’t know much. I do know that he’s never faced anything like Paulie Malignaggi. He hasn’t fought anything close to me. It’s not going to be pretty when he gets in the ring with me. The level of skill is going to be like night and day.
CBZ: How soon do you want to be on top of the jr. welterweight division? What’s your timetable?
PM: I want to win a world title in the next 12 to 15 months and as long as my hands are healthy, that will happen. There’s no other reason why I shouldn’t be fighting for a world title by then if my hands are healthy. And it WILL happen!
Malignaggi-Yelton is one of many exciting featured bouts at tomorrow night’s card at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. Fellow Brooklynite, unbeaten Sachew Powell (16-0) faces former world title challenger Santiago Samaniego (36-9-1) in a 10-round co-featured event and Ukranian Dmitriy Salita (22-0) of Brooklyn squares off against Las Vegas native Shawn Gallegos (15-1). Four other bouts are also slated on this Dibella Entertainment show which will be broadcast on the MSG network. For ticket information call 212-947-2577.
* Malignaggi broke his hand during an 8-round split decision win over Paul Delgado on 11/23/2002 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Hey JD,
Nice interview! Any updates on a proposed bout against Al "Speedy" Gonzalez?
Thanks,
Juan
Posted by juancayllon@yahoo.com">Juan C Ayllon @ 08/24/2005 03:13 PM EST
