Paulie Malignaggi told anyone who would listen that he was robbed when he lost a unanimous decision to Juan Diaz in Diaz’ hometown of Houston, Texas back in August. Even before the fight, his plan seemed to be to talk his way into a rematch – so, prior to the fight, he spoke about the possibility of being jobbed, and, after the fight, he tried to convince everyone that it had actually happened.
The plan worked, and, Saturday night, Malignaggi got his rematch. This time, he made the most of it by reversing the outcome of the first fight and scoring a unanimous decision win over Diaz in a bout on neutral ground in Chicago, Illinois.
Malignaggi had lost out in the negotiations for the first fight, agreeing to a smaller 18-foot ring and a catchweight of 138.5 pounds, in addition to having the fight in Diaz’ hometown. For the rematch, though, Malignaggi – a natural junior welterweight – was allowed to weigh in at 139 pounds and granted a larger 20-foot ring that favored his moving style. On Saturday, he used every inch of it to score an impressive victory and exact revenge.
Even with the supposed neutrality of the location, the fans were still strongly against Malignaggi as he made his way to the ring. And he only egged them on by pacing along the apron, sticking his tongue out and cupping his ears. Diaz received a much healthier reception, in part due to the large Mexican American contingent of the crowd.
They traded jabs for the first minute of round one, neither fighter gaining an edge. After another minute, Diaz ducked a jab and smacked Malignaggi with a body shot. Malignaggi then fired off a combination, catching Diaz on the end of it with a right hand. Malignaggi proceeded to work behind the jab and drilled Diaz with a clean straight right that turned his head.
The shots must have won him a measure of respect because portions of the crowd began to chant, “Paulie” shortly thereafter. Malignaggi heard them and pumped his fist while dropping his guard in the center of the ring. He again cupped his ear and nodded his head as Diaz followed him around the ring until the bell, ending a clear round for the “Magic Man.” But once the bell sounded, chants of “Diaz” instantly went up and drowned out the Malignaggi fans.
Diaz leaned in early in round two and took a right to the side of the head from Malignaggi. Malignaggi then popped him with a jab to the face, but Diaz kept coming and got to Malignaggi’s slender body in the corner, adding a left hook to the head before taking a hard uppercut in return. Diaz attacked the body once more and scored with another left hook upstairs, but Malignaggi hit him with a counter right and slid away.
Malignaggi next dropped his hands and leaned his head in, almost daring Diaz to take it off. The fans began to boo Malignaggi for keeping his distance rather than giving Diaz a chance by slugging it out, but Malignaggi stuck to the plan, banging a right over the side of Diaz’ head and opening a cut over his left eye. He shook his head at Diaz, grinned and smacked in a right-left combination to Diaz’ head, notching another round.
Malignaggi stood Diaz’ head up with a stiff jab to start the third round, but Diaz returned the favor within seconds. Diaz then walked into a hard right hand across the jaw that snapped his head aside. Looking better than ever before, Malignaggi jabbed the body, then brought a hook up to Diaz’ head. After two rounds with no success, Diaz dismissed with the boxing and launched a committed assault to the body, banging in three left hooks before coming up to the head and slamming Malignaggi’s back with consecutive hooks. Malignaggi briefly wobbled and stuck his tongue out at Diaz, who drilled him with another flush hook.
Walking through some return fire, Diaz added a right hand across the face of Malignaggi to end his big rally. Then, it was Diaz’ turn to taunt. He uncharacteristically stuck his tongue out at Malignaggi, who nodded and began talking back. Malignaggi tried to get back on track by firing some flashy shots that looked impressive to the untrained eye. In reality, nothing big landed, and Diaz took the round with two late left hooks that snapped Malignaggi’s head back and produced nods from Paulie each time.
Diaz tried to carry his momentum into round four, smashing in two body shots early and walking into some jabs shortly after. With half a minute to go, the round was up for grabs, and Malignaggi beckoned Diaz to engage him. Diaz did little to answer the challenge and allowed Malignaggi to sneak away with a pivotal round simply by being busier.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t until the fifth round that Diaz really began to pressure Malignaggi. He bulled Malignaggi against the ropes early, banging in several body shots. Following up, he slammed in two clean left hooks against the ropes and a big right hand that knocked Malignaggi’s head aside. Another right caught Malignaggi across the jaw and had a similar effect, but Malignaggi again stuck his tongue out and nodded his head, demonstrating his toughness but losing the round handily.
Diaz out jabbed Malignaggi to start round six, then drove him back into the ropes with a combination to the body. A left hook knocked Malignaggi’s head up, and Diaz drilled him with a one-two for good measure. The crowd then seemed to begin chanting, “Paulie sucks,” hoping to unsettle Malignaggi further.
Just as it appeared Diaz had the round in the bank, he walked into a huge uppercut from Malignaggi that snapped his head sideways. Malignaggi’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw Diaz wobble from the shot, his legs briefly leaving him. Never a big puncher, Malignaggi took a moment to realize the rare opportunity in front of him before smacking in rights and left hooks on the covering Diaz. But then, he stopped punching and nodded his head at Diaz, who remained in a defensive posture.
For some unknown reason, Malignaggi began acting bizarre, winding his arm up for a windmill punch and missing a combination. He tilted his head sideways and nodded again, then began crouching and spreading his arms to taunt the stunned Diaz. Chants of “Paulie” only encouraged Malignaggi’s behavior, and he crouched, putting both arms behind his back – a position from which only Roy Jones Jr. has ever been able to knock out an opponent. Diaz, of course, survived the round.
Between rounds, Diaz’ trainer Ronnie Shields urged him to take the next round off and try to recover. With Diaz halfheartedly trying to out jab a better boxer, Malignaggi captured the seventh round to increase his lead into the second half of the fight.
With Diaz again pressuring in round eight, Malignaggi tried winding his arm up for another windmill punch, but Diaz hit him with a pair of body shots in the corner. Trading in the center of the ring, Diaz caught Malignaggi with a low blow, which prompted Referee Geno Rodriguez to halt the action and give Malignaggi time to recover. The fans booed, but Malignaggi appealed to them by gesturing below his waist.
When the action picked up again, Malignaggi tried an uppercut but ate a stiff jab across the face instead. He smacked Diaz with a right in return before Diaz upped the pressure and caught him against the ropes with body punches. Malignaggi opened his mouth to say something and quickly ate a right hand. Diaz added another right, but Malignaggi turned and rattled his head with a right-left combination to retaliate. Diaz threw up his shoulder, beckoning Malignaggi on, and Malignaggi nodded in response. Just before the bell, Diaz caught Malignaggi with a good left hook, ending a toss-up round that saw Malignaggi control for longer but Diaz score with the flashier blows.
Round nine was similar to round seven in that Diaz elected to box Malignaggi, who proved better once again and edged the round without overextending himself. A desperate Shields gave Diaz mixed advice between rounds, first telling him to continue to work behind the jab, then urging him to rush Malignaggi and make him fight – something Diaz had much success with whenever he tried. But with three rounds to go and trailing on points, he would need to sweep them.
Instead, it was Malignaggi – with an assist from Rodriguez – who sealed the deal in round ten. With the round close to even, Diaz marched forward and caught a right over the back of the head from Malignaggi. He stumbled off balance from the rabbit punch, turning completely around momentarily, and Rodriguez surprisingly ruled that his glove had grazed the canvas. Rodriguez called it a knockdown, despite coming off an illegal punch. Furthermore, replays would later confirm that Diaz’ glove never even touched canvas. Diaz spread his arms to complain, then walked it off and allowed Rodriguez to issue the mandatory eight-count. With the blown call, Malignaggi not only won a round that was otherwise up for grabs but grabbed a crucial extra point.
Surprisingly, Shields’ advice changed yet again between rounds as he censured Diaz for rushing without using his jab. At that point, however, Diaz had no choice but to go for broke. He bit down and moved Malignaggi back with stiff left hooks to begin round eleven. After absorbing one of several hooks to the mouth, Malignaggi finally managed to block one and celebrated by showing his glove to the HBO announce team. Malignaggi even leaned over and pointed to the commentators, making sure they were aware that he had blocked the last in a series of five hooks. For all his bravado, he inevitably lost the round.
Needing a big round twelve, including a knockdown or two, Diaz stepped in and turned Malignaggi’s head with a right a minute in, but it was another thirty seconds before he landed another. With about a minute to go, Diaz finally started letting his left hook go again – by far his best weapon of the night – and landed four in a row on Malignaggi. A left-right combination from Diaz found its mark, followed by a combination to the body. Malignaggi answered with a left hook, but Diaz hit him back with one. They let their hands go for the last five seconds, banging away at the body, and the bell cut Diaz’ effort short. He had clearly won the championship rounds, but it wasn’t enough to win the fight.
Malignaggi climbed a corner, raised his hands victoriously and yet received a chorus of boos for his performance – the best of his career, given the opponent. Diaz had his cut treated and didn’t attempt any form of celebration. Malignaggi eventually came and shared a word with him for a brief moment.
With all three judges scoring the bout 116-111 in his favor, Malignaggi avenged his unanimous decision defeat to Diaz from August with one of his own. Malignaggi’s celebration consisted of applauding the judges for what he considered getting it right.
Whereas Malignaggi came off as a sore loser after the first fight, this time, it was Diaz’ turn. But rather than lash out about corrupt judging or an incompetent official ruling him down on an illegal punch, Diaz quietly headed to his dressing room, disappearing from view and letting the “Magic Man” have his moment – something Malignaggi denied him in the first fight, thanks to his rant.
And Malignaggi certainly basked in the spotlight of his biggest win to date, expressing a willingness to fight anyone in the very deep junior welterweight division, calling out all of his critics who thought he was finished and even going so far as to suggest he would annihilate Ricky Hatton in a rematch. Hatton dominated Malignaggi for eleven rounds last November to the point where Malignaggi’s corner had to throw in the towel to save him the embarrassment.
Strangely, there was no talk of a rubber match with Diaz to complete the trilogy. Diaz deserves the fight for giving Malignaggi a rematch and really can only be expected to do better in a third fight. He fought a terrible game plan against Malignaggi in the rematch, doing very well when he pressured and actually winning all of those rounds but just not doing enough of it. For a man whose success has been predicated on a high work rate and an ability to outlast his opponent, Diaz didn’t seem to have it in two fights with Malignaggi.
Should Diaz not want the rubber match or should both men decide to look elsewhere, Malignaggi has numerous options at junior welterweight, though he can’t realistically expect to land a fight with Hatton or Juan Manuel Marquez, who are more likely to fight one another. Instead, Malignaggi should target one of the titlists in the division, be it WBO Champion Tim Bradley, WBA Champion Amir Khan, WBC Champion Devon Alexander or IBF Champion Juan Urango. With his knack for showmanship, Malignaggi would make for a spectacle against any of them.
