Ricky Hatton Gets Sick - Paulie Malignaggi left All Alone
By John Novoselac reporting from event (Sept 15, 2008) DoghouseBoxing.com  
On Saturday the press conference to announce the November 22nd clash between Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi took place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.

Before the presser started, Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, announced that Golden Boy is making a forray into the mixed martial arts world in a partnership with Affliction clothing and Ring Magazine.

The partnership was agreed to after 8 months of negotiations. Affliction will start producing a line of shirts featuring classic Ring Magazine covers. A few prototypes were on display featuring Joe Louis, Jake LaMotta, and Rocky Graziano.

Also, Affliction will produce event specific shirts to be sold nationwide, starting with a shirt for the December fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.

Golden Boy and Affliction will team up to promote events that will feature both boxing and MMA bouts on the same card, with the first event planned for 2009. No mention was made of what MMA fighters would be featured.

Moving to the main portion of the presser, it was announced that Ricky Hatton was ill and would be unable to attend. Food poisoning was thought to be the culprit, and Lou DiBella confirmed that at the bar last night Ricky was drinking lemonade, and not his typical Guinness. I guess it wasn't just a Vegas hangover after all.

Paulie Malignaggi took the mic and, as usual, was not at a shortage of words. He emphasized that Hatton's sometimes tactics of hitting and holding should not be tolerated. He spoke of tough inside fights such as Chiquita Gonzales and Michael Carbajal, and Miguel Cotto and Antonio Maragarito where the fight was on the inside, yet clinches were not an issue. He said he has no problem fighting inside, yet holding should not be allowed.

Either way, once the bell rings, he stated he is ready for anything that happens and he is coming to box.

The Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi fight for the Ring Magazine Light Welterweight title will be televised live on HBO Championship Boxing on November 22nd, and will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Questions or comments,
e-mail
John at: jnovoselac@yahoo.com



© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing Inc. 1998-2008