WBA Junior Welterweight Champion and British sensation Amir Khan accomplished two incredibly difficult feats in his American debut. In one night, he won the respect of a historically tough New York crowd while humbling one of boxing’s biggest trash talkers, Paulie Malignaggi.
For ten rounds, Malignaggi, a self-proclaimed boxing wizard, was outdazzled and eventually pummeled by the younger, taller, longer and faster Khan before Referee Steve Smoger saw no point in letting the beating continue and stopped the fight late in the eleventh.
In fact, the most competitive things ever got between Malignaggi and Khan came at the weigh-in the day before when a heated shoving match broke out between the two while posing head-to-head. The event was closed to the public, but reports of those in attendance pointed to Khan’s camp as the culprits.
It could be said that the fallout at the scales was a long time coming. Months ago, Malignaggi added to the suspicion of Manny Pacquiao’s possible performance enhancing drug use by siding with Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Roger Mayweather. This caught the attention of Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who also happen to train Khan. With Roach vowing that Khan would punish Malignaggi, things turned personal leading up to the fight.
Khan carried out orders to perfection, beginning in round one. Malignaggi, sporting a ‘shock’ hairdo, caught a three-punch combination from Khan thirty seconds into the fight and held on while trying to fire back. Khan kept his cool and landed two crisp right hands to the head before Referee Steve Smoger pried them apart. Once separated, Khan snapped Malignaggi’s head up with a sharp jab and ducked one in return.
Khan then caught Malignaggi ducking with a left hook before throwing down a right to the side of the head. Malignaggi’s face was already reddening as he ate a pair of stiff jabs. When Paulie uncharacteristically let his hands go, he walked into two more. Malignaggi tried attacking with his right hand but took a hard one in return from Khan that jarred his head sideways. Khan added a right-left combination and another right hand that turned Paulie’s head just before the bell, ending what was surely the worst opening round of Malignaggi’s career.
Paulie leaped in to attack to begin round two but absorbed a right to the side of the head and a left hook across the nose from the quicker Khan. A hard left hook from Khan started to turn the body of Malignaggi, but Paulie held his footing. Malignaggi managed to score with a left-right combination and got in some bodywork but stopped to scratch at his nose. A blazing jab from Khan had him scratching it again.
The New York crowd rooted the hometown fighter on with chants of “Paulie,” but Malignaggi was rocked moments later by a left hook to the chin. He retaliated by grabbing Khan around the head and pounding in rights hands, which drew a warning from Smoger. The British fans booed, but Khan just smiled and nodded before going after Malignaggi with a combination. Always one for the theatrics, even while being outclassed, Paulie responded by flexing his arms like a Neanderthal en route to dropping another one-sided round.
Malignaggi landed his best punch of the fight in round three when he caught Khan walking in with a left hook. Later in the round, Malignaggi tagged him with another counter left hook. Paulie may have pulled the round out on those shots, but, unfortunately for him, they weren’t powerful enough to keep Amir from coming at him the rest of the night.
To Paulie’s credit, Khan did come out for round four with a blemish on his left eyelid. But Malignaggi came out looking like he had already fought ten. With his shock hairdo matted down in sections and his face puffy, Paulie seemed exhausted. Meanwhile, Khan showed no sign of being even remotely tired.
He snapped Malignaggi’s head straight up with a hard left hook halfway through the round. Later, Paulie tried to run Khan down in a corner but had his head slammed away with a big uppercut. A left hook from Khan sent Malignaggi into the ropes, but Paulie came off them sticking his tongue out and high stepping to mask his embarrassment. Then it was Khan’s turn to chase Malignaggi down, catching him with a left hook on the ropes.
Early in round five, Khan slammed home a left hook to Malignaggi’s body. Paulie instantly doubled over and grabbed Khan around the waist, prompting Amir to put a glove over Malignaggi’s head, and Paulie ended up dropping to a knee before rolling onto his side. Khan shrugged as Smoger urged Paulie to get up, but Malignaggi waved his glove and complained. With the same glove, he clutched his side and took his time getting up, stopping to adjust his trunks as though he needed some room to breathe.
Smoger seemed aware that Malignaggi might have been hurt and trying to buy himself some time as he warned Paulie to stay on his feet. Back on his feet, Malignaggi ate a left hook. Khan was content to jab Paulie for the rest of the round but added a hard right hand before the bell.
Khan spent rounds six and seven knocking Malignaggi’s head back with thudding jab after thudding jab. The right hands were almost unnecessary at that point but found their way to Paulie’s cranium as well.
In the eighth round, Khan tagged Malignaggi with a jab to the face and followed up by blasting him with a left-right combination. Two jabs rattled the head of Paulie and had him pulling away briefly, and the same pattern repeated itself later in the round as Khan continued to surgically take Malignaggi apart.
Smoger decided to have the ringside doctor take a look at Malignaggi before round nine to make sure he was okay to continue. When Paulie walked away from the doctor, Smoger asked the fighter himself. Though Malignaggi assured them he was fine, the next two rounds were no better for him, and he didn’t have a big enough punch to turn things around.
After the tenth, Smoger followed Malignaggi to his corner and told him he had one more round to show what he had left. Malignaggi nodded that he understood, but Smoger brought the doctor in again just to make sure Malignaggi got the point. Paulie talked it over with commission officials and showed his tough New York makeup by giving it one more go.
With Smoger watching every punch, Khan blasted Malignaggi with a stiff jab that knocked his head sideways midway through round eleven. Malignaggi pulled back into the ropes, trying to duck the shots that followed, but Smoger moved in and pinned him against the ropes, stopping the fight. Malignaggi threw a half-hearted straight right and a jab in Khan’s direction, looking almost relieved that it was finally over.
Khan rushed to the ropes, nodding to the fans, British and American alike, who saluted him with cheers. With that, he completed his United States debut, stopping a man who had only been stopped once before – by Khan’s compatriot Ricky Hatton, who did it in the same round a year and a half ago. Malignaggi had complained about his corner throwing the towel in on him that night. This time, battered in virtually every round, he didn’t bother to argue.
Instead, he made his way to Ariza and shared words with him before finding Khan. Even in defeat, Malignaggi couldn’t stop his mouth from running as he talked to Khan for a good while, though there was no apparent malice spewing this time. They embraced and let bygones be bygones. Roach was next on Paulie’s list, though the nature of their discussion was indiscernible.
In spite of everything, Malignaggi acted dumbfounded by the outcome, wondering if the reason he was hit so clean was that he was getting too old, a ridiculous notion given that Paulie is only 29. He seemed unable to come to terms with the idea that he had been bested by a younger opponent who was better than him in just about every department.
As for Khan, he earned due praise with his performance and his closing statement that he would be willing to next face Marcos Maidana, his mandatory challenger who agreed to step aside and allow Khan to face Malignaggi. Maidana was scheduled to face WBO Champion Tim Bradley this summer but pulled out due to a back injury. A fight with Khan would now seem to fit both of their schedules in the fall and could make for a fine display of fireworks and second act to Khan’s U.S. invasion.
