Magic Man

Frank151: You are currently an up-and-coming Italian American fighter. What are your stats?
Paulie Malignaggi: I’m rated eighth in the world by the World Boxing Council.  I just won the belt for the WBC International Title which automatically ranks me in the top ten.  I’m just a few fights away from the world title shot.
F151: If you win the title,  what would be the next step in your career?
PM: The next step would be to  defend my win and probably unify the belt because there are four major world titles. Winning the world title can make you a lot of money, a  lot of fame and take you to a higher level. Hopefully if I reach this status I would like to move up to a higher weight class. Right now I’m a Junior Welterweight, that’s 140 lbs. So I’d like to move up to Welterweight and win the title in this weight class. My ultimate goal is to make  the Hall of Fame.

F151: How did you get into boxing?
PM: I was 16 years old and I just got kicked out of my mother’s house. I’d already dropped out of high school. I moved in with my grandparents. My grandpa took  me to the gym hoping it would straighten me out. And it did. I really enjoyed being in the gym, even after I was done training. My mind became  like a sponge for the sport.

F151: What does it mean for you as an Italian American to come from such a long line of Italian boxing champions?
PM: It’s a great thing for me because you don’t see as many Italians fighting anymore. Back in the day, coming to the US as an immigrant, life was hard so you had to turn to fighting. Now with the pizza business and stuff like that, Italians are making money so they aren’t fighting as much. So to continue the boxing tradition is something important to me and I plan on doing a  good job.

F151: Who are some of your favorite  Italian boxers?
PM: Arturo Gatti is my favorite. It’s funny because he’s the world champion in his weight class with  the World Boxing Council. If he’s still the champion when it’s my time, I’ll fight my childhood favorite, my childhood idol. It would be kind of weird but kind of cool at the same time. Also I like Rocky Marciano,  Vinny Pazienza and Willy Pep. All of them set really great examples and I plan on taking it to another level.
F151: How do you prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for a fight? Do you have a fighting “persona”?
PM: Oh, yeah, when you see me  in the ring I’m definitely a different person. I’m more flamboyant, I’m cocky, I’m a very outgoing person in the ring. If you don’t know me personally you probably won’t like me. I get into my opponent’s mind. Everything I can do psychologically to my opponent to break him down  is to my advantage. So I play the bad guy role in a way. It gets me psyched up.

F151: Because weight classifications  are so critical in boxing and boxers are very conscious of their weight,  is it tough being Italian and not being able to eat pizza?!
PM: Yeah, it is! When you fight  and make weight, you have a strict diet. But when you’re not fighting you can eat. It’s just a matter of being disciplined at a time when you have to be. It gets kind of tough, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years.

F151: What do you look for in  an opponent? Technique, fighting spirit, style?
PM: I look for a lot of things in an opponent. I try not to over-study opponents because that can mentally wear you down. I basically study whether my opponent is aggressive, what his defense is, how he reacts to punches when he’s hit—if he’s  confident or if he loses confidence. I study those things and try to work off his mentality.

F151: Would you rather win with  points or a knockout?
PM: It doesn’t matter to me.  I’ve gotten to a point where I win on points because I’ve had injuries. I’ve torn ligaments and broken my right hand so this has affected my  power. If I don’t knock a guy out I’m still going to win on points because  I know how to fight. A win is a win. A knockout is easier but I’m always  prepared to go the distance.

F151: Any final words for boxers out there today?
PM: Always be on the lookout  for the Magic Man! For anyone trying to come up, it’s a tough sport  but if you’ve got discipline and the desire and a little natural ability,  anything’s possible.