Tomorrow night in Las Vegas Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi will finally have a gumshield shoved into his big gob and will have to let his fists do the talking. It’s about time too.
While Hatton has, as always, remained honourable by only talking up his own chances and not taking cheap shots at his opponent, Malignaggi has hurled a torrent of abuse at the Hitman, somehow claiming that every victory in his magnificent 44-1 career has been a fluke:
"I don't think this guy is a great fighter. He's made his name beating over-the-hill fighters, including his best wins. His best was Jose Luis Castillo, but he was shot after the first Diego Corrales fight…
"People go on about Kostya Tszyu, but Kostya hadn't fought anybody in 27 months...
"Ricky Hatton became the first guy to stop Ray Oliveira, but, hey, come on, how much credit can you give him for that!"
Not a lot, apparently, if you listen to Malignaggi, which nobody has been doing for some time now.
Malignaggi may be quick and flashy, but he cannot inflict shots of real substance due to his brittle hands, which have been broken many times before. His only hope is to target Ricky with quick jabs before dancing around the ring until the next opening, preying for a points victory.
Hatton’s only loss in his career has come against the superb Floyd Mayweather Junior, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. Who taught Mayweather Junior to be such an exhilarating champion? His father, Mayweather Senior, that’s who! The same man who has had Ricky locked away for five weeks now, teaching him everything he knows. The Hitman couldn’t hope for better preparation against Malignaggi.
Malignaggi was known as a bully at school, always getting into fights and no doubt shooting his mouth off. He will find out tomorrow that Ricky is too big a man to be intimidated by words.
P.S. Malignaggi has promised a “huge surprise” for his entrance in Vegas akin to Naseem Hamed and Chris Eubank. Hmmm I wonder what that’ll be then?!!