Aug 23 2009
Juan Diaz Vs. Paulie Malignaggi – FLAWED HOME COOKIN’
Every great pressure fighter in the history of boxing has excelled in either one of three prerequisites. Some of them, like Felix Trinidad, have had a bomb, a great hook, straight right, or uppercut that could end a fight or alter an opponent’s strategy to their favor. Others, like Edwin Rosario, have had a Gaucho, a classic hook to the body that can curb a boxer’s movement and bring them within the range of his volume punching. The greatest pressure fighters, (Julio Cesar Chavez and the late Alexis Arguello come to mind), have had both qualities plus the ability to cut off the ring; the intellectual wherewithal to corner a fighter and not chase him.
While a brave fighter, charming young man, and credit to the sport, Juan Diaz cannot do any of those three things. A college graduate with aspirations to study law, he has engaged in a series of entertaining fights in which he has shown courage, took punishment, and established himself as a market attraction. What he hasn’t done, however, is fight a fight where his flaws weren’t out in the open. Too often, Diaz has chased a guy when he needed to set him up, ignored body work and headhunted unsuccessfully, swinging like a mid level infielder with 14 homeruns and 150 strikeouts. The results have been fun to watch, admittedly, but against a world class pro like Nate Campbell and a hall of fame fighter like Juan Manuel Marquez, they have been disastrous for him.
Tonight, against an almost-world class fighter in Paulie Malignaggi, the results were almost disastrous. (And I’ll be dammed if I don’t say that they should have been. I had the fight 115-113 Malignaggi.) Too often in the fight Diaz looked lost, as well as a step slow. Where he could have done what Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton did to Malignaggi, go to the body, impose his will, and reduce him to a survivor, he clumsily chased him around the ring. He looked spectacular about 3 or 4 times each round when he loaded up on his left hook, but they did practically no damage to Paulie. A late rally by Diaz took the “robbery” moniker away from the fight, when he willed himself to a strong 12th round finish. Overall, however, he did nothing to make Mayweather, Marquez, or Pacquiao shake in their boots.
This isn’t to say that Malignaggi looked like a million bucks. Although a tough, game pro, Malignacci is cursed with swagger when he needs strategy, bombast when he needs brains. A light punching crowd pleaser from NYC, he is adept at a Pernell Whitaker imitation, but has no sense of the ring generalship, strategy or skill that made Whitaker one of the finest boxers to ever live, and folds when an opponent forces him to come up with a plan B. In the middle rounds, where a smart boxer would have circled to his right, sliced up Diaz’s gaping cut with his jab, impeded his vision and stopped him from coming in, Paulie relied solely on his bike and his athletic ability, keeping Diaz in the fight enough for him to steal rounds on his aggression alone. (It also must be said that, after the decision, Paulie took a lot of sympathy away from him with one of the most pathetic post fight temper tantrums I have seen.)
Yet even if he acted like a spoiled seventh grader after the fight, I still had Paulie winning it. Although not an epic Everett-Escalera styled robbery, Diaz deserved nothing better than a draw tonight. The Houston cards ( 115-113, 116-112 ‘?’ and 118-111 ‘????’) did him a favor, but his performance did him no such service. Diaz is many things: a good man, a gutsy fighter and a hometown hero. Tonight, he did nothing to disprove the notion that, against a world class Junior Welterweight, he will be an easy payday.
Loading ...
The Malignaggi vs Diaz fight last night reminded me of the Chavez vs Whitaker fight that took place in Texas in the 1993. Clearly, Malignaggi won by decision and the pre-fight concerns were validated. Politics like this are not good for a sport that continues to lose fans to the UFC and MMA. I read part of Oscar De La Hoya’s book yesterday about Golden Boy promotions trying to clean up the sport. Last night was a sad example of the same politics that have plagued this great sport.
I’m not sure he clearly won. But it was definitely more competitive than the judges had it. I had it as a draw and Brotherman had it as Paulie winning by two rounds. Either of those is fine. I’m not sure if I would’ve ever had Diaz winning, but someone could probably talk me into him winning by one or two rounds.
It wasn’t a blatant rip-off, but it was a much closer fight than what the judges had it as.
Come on guys? 118-110 is so far off the mark the g
judge should be banned for life. Paulie fought the fight than would win every time against a flat footed and dismayed Diaz.
Paulie is also a very accurate fortune teller since the fight was obviously stolen and he obviously won.
The sport is becoming a joke and its sad that Oscar is crying in the background knowing his fighter lost and then was given the win.
Paulie defeated Diaz in a close fight, but he did NOT get the decision. Boxing lost in this fight because fans like me walk away thinking, what did the man have to do?
For Mr. Diaz, it’s Christmas in August. What’s sadder is how the joke of a commentator makes no comment, only “He didn’t help his (Paulie’s) cause” when Paulie called out boxing and said the fact that boxing is politics or better yet money.
Paulie was a real life Rocky in the fight. He had every thing stacked against him. Paulie fought Diaz in Diaz’s town and arena; he fought against Golden Boy the (Don King of the era); he went down in weight to fight a Bull that couldn’t hurt him in 12 rounds; he had a judge that ruled a head butt that no body saw just in case the fight was stopped on a cut; Paulie fought in a smaller ring working against his stick, move, dance style that was fun to watch; he had a judge that ignored the trunks falling (offering no help; guess he wanted Paulie to trip and call it a knock down); and he had that joke of a judge from Texas that was either on drugs and alcohol or his family was threatened to judge the fight the way he did. The out spoken Kellerman also had nothing to say. He spun the story to say popularity won; or in other words, Diaz won because he packs arenas. Well Mr. Kellerman must realize that the Bull or BS is a farce because he lost to Juan Manuel and I guess it’s because he knocked him out, and he lost to Paulie but Paulie didn’t get the win because he didn’t knock the Bull out. And we are left with only the Bull.
The respect I had for Bernard, Mosley, and De La Hoya is lost. I thought these men were in the promoting business for the fighters. It is what gave me hope in the sport, but after last night, I feel as though I went to Washington, clicking my little heals with Toto and the gang, only to realize Sugar Shane, The Executioner, and the Golden Boy are nothing more than a three-headed Don King. Now all they need are the wigs!
THIS FIGHT WAS TOTAL BULLSHIT!!!! PAULIE WON THAT FIGHT BIG TIME MAN, THEY SAID A CUT FROM A HEADBUTT BUT WHEN THEY SAID THEY WERE GONNA SHOW IT THEY DIDN’T BECAUSE THEY DIDNT HAVE, I AGREE WIT PAULIE 100 PERCENT AT THE END OF THE FIGHT I WOULD HAVE BEEN OUTRAGED AS WELL I MEAN IT WASN’T THAT PAULIE BLEW HIM OUT BUT IT WAS CLOSE AND HE WON THOSE JUDGES ARE ASSHOLES FROM TEXAS …. GIVE THE KID A FAIR FIGHT!!!
I have not been a fan of the “Magic Man” lately but I will say that the judging last night was horrible. Apparently the judge did not watch the same fight as me 118-110? wtf is that? I do not blame Paulie for his comments stating that boxing is shit!! I guess Oscar couldnt afford to have one of his fighters to take a loss. During the “Ghost” fight Max Kellerman made a comment that if the fight got close the advantage would go to the ghost cause he is a golden boy fighter. Something needs to be done about this it is going to ruin the sport if it is left untouched.
I have never been a fan of ” The Magic Man”, having watched him for many years, I always thought that without the use of his right hand at best he was a so-so fighter. That being said the fight on Saturday against Diaz, shows me that boxing has become a psudeo sport, to be place in the realm of WWE. The fact that these so called judges can pass a bullshit score like , 116- 112, or the even more disgusting score of 118-110, and not only keep their jobs, but not face proscution is a sad reminder of the world we live in. Boxing has always had it’s “golden boys”, but when a fighter is blantently robbed such as Paulie was, it makes the whole sport look retarded. I wish Paulie well, but I have a feeling that things are going to continue in boxing the way it has been for some time to come. Sad, but true.
Now that we’ve had a little bit of time to let this sit, do we still think Paulie was robbed?
I had it as a draw and as I think about it, I think I could’ve taken Diaz by one round, but that’s it. Diaz by one round, a draw, or Malignaggi by up to two rounds is how I can see this one going.
116-112 is just as terrible as 118-110. 115-113 is not as bad, but still bad.
I think this was totally a close fight.Both of them fought hard for their spot.
Sounds like HBO is considering a rematch between the two. I’ll watch that again.