Miguel Cotto Decisions Paulie Malignaggi
 Danny Serratelli at Ringside (June 12, 2006)
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Photo © Sally Grossman
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Paulie Malignaggi backed up all the talking he did to build up his fight with Miguel Cotto last night. Although he did not win the fight, it was a fight where there really was no loser. The day before the Puerto Rican Day parade, in a small ring that suited the Puerto Rican WBO junior welterweight champion, Malignaggi became the first fighter to force the more experienced Cotto to go the distance in a title fight (7-0, 6 KO’s).
Malignaggi entered the ring cool and composed to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”, however the vibe in the Garden seemed to be that Paulie was a sacrificial lamb. Paulie entered the fight at around a 3 or 4-1 underdog, and despite the fact that Paulie is the New York guy (Brooklyn), while Cotto is from Caguas, Puerto Rico; he was obviously fighting on Cotto’s turf. The Puerto Rican fans in New York and New Jersey, who have always been strong supporters of Felix Trinidad, made it a clear that Cotto is now their guy.
The Puerto Rican fans are great fans and they came in the masses to support their guy. There was a decent amount of Irish fans there for John Duddy, but much fewer Italians and supporters for Paulie then anyone probably expected. For a moment I thought that the only Italian-Americans in the building were Paulie himself, Peter Manfredo, Lou Savarese and myself. Obviously, there were more then us, but despite the geography, Cotto surely had the home field advantage.
Paulie came out boxing and appeared to win a first round that was basically a feeling out process. The second round is what made all the difference in the fight. While Paulie’s pride and confidence helped him make it to the final bell in round number 12, it hurt him in round 2. He was using the jab and moving nicely, but keeping his hands too low, particularly the right hand to defend Cotto’s powerful left hook. Cotto timed a perfect left hook that dropped Paulie who easily beat the count and did not appear to be seriously hurt.
After the knockdown in the second as well as a cut that opened up around Paulie’s eye in the same round, fans were smelling a knockout for Cotto. After the knockdown, and the cut, Paulie made many of the proper adjustments. He was unable to move as much as he probably wanted to because of the small ring, however he made a lot of nice subtle moves, used his distance well, used his speed and a basic 1-2 to win several of the middle rounds. Cotto did not muscle him around like people thought he would, and their strength on the inside looked comparable.
In the end one judge scored the fight a very close 7-5 in rounds, 115-112, with a 10-8 round in round 2 for the knockdown. The other two judges scored it 116-111, 8-4 in rounds with the same 10-8 round in round number 2. I was admittedly caught up in the emotion of being there live at a fight I found to be very exciting, and I had difficulty scoring many of the rounds…but I had the fight 114-113 Cotto. I though there were many close rounds that could have went either way, and if I watched the tape after the fact my scorecard may come out different. Cotto obviously threw the harder punches, while Paulie displayed great “ring generalship”, defense and in many rounds appeared to be the busier fighter.
There was a lot of holding in the small ring all night. Often Paulie would throw punches and then try to smother Cotto’s counters. However, Cotto worked both hands to Paulie’s ribs all night in the clinches and I could see the result on Paulie’s left ribcage from my vantage point. After the fight Paulie mentioned that this was the first time he had to deal with a cut and blood going in his eye from a cut. He also admitted that Cotto was definitely the hardest puncher he has faced in his professional career. In addition to the cut Paulie suffered a broken nose, a broken orbital bone in his face and possibly a broken jaw. While a physician I spoke to ringside who examined Paulie said he did not think the jaw was broken, I could see the swelling around the jaw get worse for the final few rounds and it did not look good.
The difference in the fight appeared to be round number 2 and also Cotto’s corner and fans inspiring him to close the show. At the end of the 10th round, and as it turned out when the fight was still up for grabs, one of Cotto’s cornerman (I believe it was his uncle) did the right thing and yelled at Miguel and made him understand that he needed to step it up for the final rounds. The pep talk worked, and the fans were backing Miguel with a strange whistle from all over the arena. I was told that it was the sound of the Coqui, a tree frog from Puerto Rico (this is what I was told by some Cotto fans). Between the Coqui whistles and the pep talk, Miguel was inspired and stepped up the action on the brave Malignaggi taking the last 2 rounds.
In the end Cotto admitted that the fight was a lot tougher then he anticipated. Cotto obviously did respect Malignaggi because he did box and put in work throughout the fight to try to slow Paulie down later. Cotto is the much more experienced professional who has fought at a much higher level of competition, so the loss should actually raise Malignaggi’s stock. Paulie had never been tested, and I am sure that he is feeling the results of the fight today and will be for a while, but the injuries will heal, he leaves the fight knowing he went 12 rounds with an excellent champion in Miguel Cotto. Paulie was disappointed, but understands Malignaggi said, "I need a couple of more fights to get the experience I'm lacking.” I’m sure Paulie will have a lot more fans after a very gutsy performance.
Malignaggi’s promoter Lou DiBella said that he would be out of action completely for 6 months. Cotto will be preparing for a November showdown with Jose Luis Castillo. This show was great for boxing; there were many excellent fights, great atmosphere and a full house of hardcore fans. I will look forward to seeing both of fighters in action. Cotto is in for a very tough match with Castillo and I look forward to seeing Paulie return to action with this fight under his belt. He showed he has a world-class chin and heart in this one to go with his skills.
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