The Paulie Controversy and the Lunatic Fringe
posted by Shoefly
I can’t help it, I kind of like Paulie Malignaggi. When I first started watching him he was enjoyable as a cartoon heel, a fun guy to root against. His fast-talking, guido, frost-tipped, metrosexual act made him eminently loathable. His fighting style is unattractive; a retreating, jabbing, clowning, and spoiling mush that can be borderline painful. He seemed a mockery of the slick African-American fighting tradition mixed with the righteous indignation and attitude I most prefer.
But he took his two beatings , from Cotto and Hatton , like a man and I started to warm a little. And Saturday’s fight against Juan Diaz was one to remember.
Now, first, let me say the cries of robbery seem a little overstated to me. I didn’t keep score, but I had the general feeling the fight was a pick’em with enough close rounds that it wouldn’t be a tragedy either way. Of course, I also knew who the HBO kept boy was and, as such, had no doubt that Diaz would be the winner.
I also wonder how much the announcers influenced the perception of the scoring of the fight. I don’t think they were biased, but the BAD team certainly has a different philosophical viewpoint than Lampley/Merchant, who prefer ineffective aggression above all else. If they had been on the microphone I’m almost sure we’d have heard one of Lampley’s classic, ‘you can’t tell which punches are landing, but you can see who’s coming forward and throwing the harder shots.†Yeah, that 118-110 scorecard was awful, but forgive me if this isn’t the fight I choose to ring the unquenchable gong of injustice over.
Which is not to say that the game isn’t rigged and the fix isn’t in, as Malignaggi claimed. Paulie should know this quite well, considering he has been the recipient of two controversial decisions against visiting African fighters; the all-time leaders in scorecard screw-jobs.
Still, I loved his performance in the postfight. Not that it wasn’t a little whinging, but the speeded-out talking style and righteous fury was winning. The best thing about boxing is that it’s so clear that it means something to the athletes because the stakes are so high. Malignaggi let loose with a torrent of regret and anger that was childlike and primal. It was ethnic and personal and entirely out of control. It was the type of interview that would get an athlete suspended interminably from any of the major sports; eccentric, paranoid, uncouth, homophonic, and despairing.
I loved it. You got to see the underlying fragility of the man’s journey into the ring. What an act of faith it must be to step under those lights if you’re a guy like Malignaggi. He couldn’t kill a fly with his best punch but he toes the line with monsters and hard men. He enters the ring a lion tamer with no whip; and you could see the barely contained faith slip through. ‘I managed the ring of fire and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!†Or more accurately, ‘I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!â€
The thing that makes boxing great is that a fighter can say these things and get away with it. That Floyd can give an interview on Bossip and not have to bow and scrape and issue a heartfelt apology in the commissioner’s office. It’s the badlands out there; the last generation of gunfighters , lawless and without center.
The converse of this radical freedom, of course, is the first part, the screw-job. There is no fair shake, there is no underlying structure. There are simply giant cracks that allow us to walk along the edge with the unhinged, to get a closer look at the real than is possible in all other sports. It’s the thin line of the unmanageable, why weather patterns are more interesting than planetary orbits. People are always claiming boxing needs to get organized and clean, but I hope it never happens, because the cracks are how the light gets in.
August 25th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Finally, someone who saw the same fight I did! Yes, 118-110 was a stupid score, but we all knew going in that Diaz was at home, and he was the Golden Boy guy. If Paulie was fighting in Brooklyn everyone would be crying that Diaz won the fight and boxing is dirty! I’ve seen way worse, and am overall happy that the whole night of boxing was quite entertaining for a change. Why can’t people focus on that?!
August 25th, 2009 at 9:47 am
“Slick African-American fighting” styles that involve retreating are rarely a hit with the judges. Hell look at Ali-Frazier I. One judge scored it 11-4 Frazier. I have a friend that has scored the fight 9-6 for Ali. He’s watched the fight dozens of times. I don’t think Ali won that one (my card would be close to referee Arthur Mercante who scored it 8-6-1 for Frazier) but he sure didn’t lose 11 rounds. Ali at times retreated, sometimes playing hurt, sometimes punching very softly. I don’t think that fight was rigged. I just think some people give little respect to certain fighting styles. Pernell Whitaker was another “slick’ fighter that the judges screwed. Watch the Chavez fight. He wins by several rounds, but like Malignaggi, the judges just don’t like his game.
August 25th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Paulie would be a much more sympathetic character if his level of flamboyance matched his level of skill. That said, for all the ego we see, Paulie brings a lot of honesty too. We saw it when he admitted that the N’Dou fight hair extensions were stupid and we saw it last night.
I don’t enjoy watching Paulie “fight” (i.e. run around) but he can be a breath of fresh air. As much as I hate to admit, I do think he won the fight on points. Diaz had a few good punches, but so did Paulie, and the Magic man tagged the Baby Bull every chance he could. How many times did that jab slip between Diaz’s gloves.
It wasn’t the performance I wanted to see, but Paulie played by the rules and deserved a draw, if not the win.
August 25th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
@Bry, completely agree. It was what it was…entertaining
August 25th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I just find it really hard to get upset over a fight with two guys who aren’t on the top level. If you want to go in depth scoring mode over fights like Pac/Marquez or Hopkins/Calzaghe; fights with real historical resonance that’s one thing, but my special outrage only ticks up for the big boys. Unfair to the participants, perhaps, but matches like this, well, I just want them to be lit up.
And I definitely concur with you, Brad, over the types of fighters certain judges prefer. Anybody agree with me that the reaction to the fight would have been very different with the Lamply/Merchant crew? They always drive me nuts with their love of ineffective aggression; I guarantee Lampley wouldn’t have disagreed with that 118-110 card.
Malignaggi though, is different from the real slicksters in that he really doesn’t have any rhythm, any natural movement to avoid punches. He just seems to zip around the ring and hope the distance will provide protection, not the beautiful slip and counter game guys like Sweet Pea mastered so well.
August 25th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
FaustMN Says:
August 25th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Paulie played by the rules and deserved a draw, if not the win.
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I feel exactly like the writer. I have rooted for paulie since that day. He is also in the new mike tyson punchout commercial as, Little Mack.(Himself)
His flashy style, talk and what not make him a good fighter in my eyes. I enjoy seeing his fights. I wish he would hit harder and generally put more into his punches. With that being said…”his jab slipped in there over 20 times” and its fun to watch fighters like Diaz get juked all around the ring and tagged in the jaw for missing. (like the hatton knockout with floyd mayweather) I love that part of boxing.
August 25th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Paulie is Paulie. Hands of glass and couldn’t knock the head off a beer. If they aren’t having to duct tape his dreads out of the way then they’re having to pull his clown pants up from his ankles. But dammit, he shows up, is entertaining and makes a fight out of it. He didn’t disappoint and yes, I think he was screwed out of the decision.
The one that disappointed was Diaz. Baby Bull? Baby Bullshit is more like it. Tony Ayala should sue him for character defamation, which would be quite a trick in Tony’s case. I can’t make up my mind if Diaz is damaged goods or the box was never full in the first place. Probably the latter, upon reflection.
August 25th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I don’t find the decision “upsetting” as much as I find the ramifications of the decision interesting (I thought Paulie won). After we get our fill of the action and drama of a fight, we start speculating about where each guy goes from there. Even though these two guys aren’t the elite in their weight class, it’s still interesting to see what results from the this outcome, and I think that it’s this interest to some extent that fuels the reaction. One guy’s gonna get a much better fight than the other…and with a little bit of luck, you never know what we’re looking at in 18 months or so. I ain’t losing sleep over the decision, but I’m certainly commenting on it on a message board, and if Diaz wins his next fight, I’m looking back at how important this fight was. Likely? Prolly not, but ya never know.
August 25th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I think from a PR and marketing perspective – Paulie and Lou DiBella played this perfectly. They knew there was no way Paulie was going to shut out or knock out Diaz. The best outcome he could hope for was to narrowly outpoint him – and he knew it wasn’t going to happen for him on the judge’s scorecards in Texas. So what do you do – you bitch to high heaven beforehand and the only way you can truly lose is if you get stopped or beaten decisively. Before and afterwards, Paulie was the story, not Diaz, and HBO is in the entertainment business last I checked.
I don’t think there’s any question that Paulie will get another shot on HBO after this. His performance before and after the fight was too memorable for him to just be relegated to ESPN status. He’ll get another shot. He’s a helluva lot more interesting a story than Tim Bradley or Devon Alexander. In fact, those two would do well to grab Malignaggi as an opponent right now while he’s still on people’s minds – he may be THEIR ticket onto HBO.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:15 am
“Paulie would be a much more sympathetic character if his level of flamboyance matched his level of skill”….ha…if that were true…we probably wouldnt have to have much sympathy for the magic man…cause hed probably be on of the top p4p fighters in the world
id definitley call myself a paulie fan…i had heard alot about him…and saw him on a broadway card replay…so i went to check him out against camarena at foxwoods…it inspired me to order the cotto/paulie top rank ppv over hopkins/tarver and he really won me over that night…and like many other of his fans i was very disppointed with his previous 3 peformances…it was nice to see him get on track though with a solid performance…although i must agree with jim in austin…maybe this says just as much about juan diaz
i think kurt nailed it though…i mean…these guys got the lead feature on rafaels notebook the day before the fight…they played it perfectly and definitley had the internet buzzing…i saw paulies postfight interview on a boston sports blog where ive never seen a boxing post before(granted it was for comedic value)
kurt..i have a question…youll probably have more insight into this than anyone…i know shaw has crossed dawson over to hbo now…if he were to try do the same with bradley…do u think this would do any damage to his relationship with showtime?? since its really a shaw showcase network…and they really could use an up and coming star…and have been pushing bradley hard? i know that its really the main goal of most guys to get on hbo since thats where the better money/exposure is….but thats gotta tick hershman off a bit if hes pushing guys hard and then shaw tries to move em to their rival
August 26th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Ricky – that’s a question a lot of promoters have about Shaw’s relationship with Showtime. Most people thought the special privileges would be over once Jay Larkin left but it continues with Hershman. I especially thought after the whole EliteXC debacle and bankruptcy, which cost Showtime a lot of money and had Shaw basically get fired by his own company, that he’d damaged the relationship – but I guess not. To paraphrase the great philosopher Charles Barkley – maybe Shaw has a picture of Hershman with a monkey or somethin’.
Shaw came up with the idea for ShoBox with Larkin so I can see how he gets the majority of those dates. Bradley came up through ShoBox and I think it’s only a matter of time before he goes to HBO. Gary basically took Angulo from ShoBox to HBO as well. Gary’s also got a fighter in the Big Six Showtime tourney (Dirrell – another ShoBox signing) – which is the network’s big splashy project right now – so I think between ShoBox and that, his relationship will endure, Tim Bradley or not.
Iiiiiittttt’s Shawtime!!!
August 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Man, The Rooster says…read this article by listening to some old Wu…shit is just that much more deeper, kids. Nuff said. The Rooster don’t have to explain himself here…either you understand or you don’t. Think ya’ll forgot who is running sh#$ up in this mug. Harlem…uptown, baby!
I’m a bit pissed, yo. You all seem like mad cool folks and The Mas hasn’t thrown a dope ass party at Mas Headquarters in the NYC so we can all meet. Open bar would be a nice touch of class by a class site…cough!cough!
Sorry to yell here: THE MAS IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE GOOD DISCUSSIONS TAKE PLACE! I use to be the first to comment on these articles…go back to the history…I’ve been laying down tracks here for years…when you kids were all in diapers and drinking from sippy cups, yo. Till this day there hasn’t been some crazy fool acting the fool…I can track down IP addresses yo…just letting you know. But now in my ripe old age I like to read what everyone else has to say…great stuff, ya’ll
In closing, I think the Baby Bull is a good fighter…but he’s done. He has like 3 more years left in him…probably one of the better puggy fighters I’ve seen a while…I will give him that…also, as much noise as he makes when he punches, I think we can all agree that there aren’t much on his punches also.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I don’t think Diaz is done, but I do think he has hit a plateau in his career. His game needs some work if he’s gonna compete at the next level but he is still very young. There is still a lot he can learn if he switched up his corner.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:31 am
“also, as much noise as he makes when he punches, I think we can all agree that there aren’ much on his punches also.”
i think thats the major problem…i mean…how are you going to be a pressure fighter that cant hurt anyone?
i think maybe u can start to look back on his win over freitas the same way many look at hattons win over tsyzu(although it was at foxwoods and not in houston)…him making an older fighter, who hadnt been in the ring in awhile, quit…then there was the katsidis fight which was pretty close that he won by split….i dunno…he just is what he is…
and gene…juan diaz is still very young…but at 25 he has nearly 40 pro fights…i dunno how much you can change him…floyd sr. tried to change ricky and that lasted about….shit i dunno….maybe u can add a few wrinkles here and there…but nothing dramatic will come of it…hes pretty much the fighter he always will be
and kurt…thanks for the insight
im really just get excited about floyd/jmm…and cotto/pac…im really hoping they get valero/soto done for the cotto/pac undercard…that will give me a reason to head into the arena before 7
September 1st, 2009 at 8:28 pm
In my view, Malignaggi clearly won the fight. Whether you like his style or not, it was his style that was imposed on this fight. Paulie is a boxer (really jab and move) and Diaz is meant to be a puncher. This was clearly a fight dominated by the jab and move – Malignaggi did what he was meant to do and Diaz didn’t. While I prefer to watch a fighter who has at least the potential to put a guy down, Malignaggi made the most of what he’s got and Diaz did not. I agree with Kurt in that the Malignaggi people handled the situation the best the could from a PR perspective, but I sometimes like to think that a fight should be scored based on the twelve rounds in the ring.
March 6th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Good read … headline catchy … good points, some of which I have learned along the way as well (humility, grace, layoff the controversial stuff). Will share with my colleagues at work as we begin blogging from a corporate perspective. Thanks!
April 12th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
[...] Paulie Malignaggi & the Lunatic Fringe by Shoefly @ No Mas [...]
April 29th, 2011 at 4:18 am
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