(Photo by John Gichigi/Getty Images)
Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi is never at a loss for words. I don't agree with him 100 percent of the time, but I'm with him after Saturday night's controversial loss to Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz.
Even before the fight started, Malignaggi would tell anyone who would listen that the deck was stacked against him from the very beginning. From the size of the ring to the officials that were assigned to the bout, Paulie made it clear that things were being skewed in favor of Houston's hometown hero Diaz.
The fight was an entertaining one, with both men cut early and giving hits as good as they were receiving them.
Malignaggi used hand speed and superior footwork to his advantage, while Diaz kept coming forward with his trademark non-stop aggression.
Paulie got off to a good start, but Juan kept himself in the fight in the middle rounds.
Despite having problems with his trunks, Malignaggi would find himself outboxing Diaz as they entered the latter stages of the bout.
I felt the "Magic Man" did enough to earn the nod.
Clearly, the judges begged to differ.
A unanimous decision was awarded to Diaz with judges Raul Caiz Sr. and David Sutherland scoring the bout 115-113 and 116-112, respectively, while Gale Van Hoy had it an absurd 118-110.
As the crowd roared in approval as the always-exciting Diaz had his hand raised in victory, Malignaggi walked to the ropes and shook his head in disgust.
After the bout, a rightfully-charged Malignaggi let his feelings be known when it came to the judging and the state of boxing in general.
He took nothing away from Diaz as he commended him for being a true warrior in the squared circle.
He just felt he won the fight.
I did too.
He might have done his best inside the ring tonight, but it was the politics of the game that got the best of him outside of it.
Questions and comments can be sent to brianoblake@yahoo.com
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