Ricky Hatton Out to Execute Boxer Paulie Malignaggi at MGM Plaza

If you do not know Paulie Malignaggi, it is really only that you do not know him yet.

What is known, however, is that he is scheduled to fight England’s superstar boxer Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton.

“This is the biggest fight of my career,” Paulie declares before sportswriters.  “At the end of the night everybody is going to know who Paulie Malignaggi is."

Malignaggi, a slick boxer with a record of 25 wins, five by knockout, and one loss, is defending the IBF junior welterweight title. He won this title by unanimous decision over Australian Lovemore N’dou on June 16 last year and successfully defended it against Canadian Herman Ngoudjo in similar fashion last Jan. 5.

Against Ngoudjo, Malignaggi was stunned in the seventh. But his challenger failed to follow up to finish the job to enable the New Yorker to escape with his routine win—a decision.

The fighter from Brooklyn earned his spurs not from his recent bouts, but after his losing encounter against then undefeated Miguel Cotto for the WBO light welterweight title.

After hitting the floor in the second round, Malignaggi fought with pure heart to survive 12 rounds of grueling action. He was left with a broken cheekbone, a bleeding nose, and a nasty cut around his left eye that blurred his vision.

Since then, Malignaggi has not fought anyone in the same league as Cotto.  But he will come Nov. 22, 2008 when he faces Hatton, a tested ring gladiator with a solid ring record of 45 wins, 31 by knockout, and only one loss.

The popular British boxer has faced the biggest names in the light welterweight and welterweight divisions.  He is best remembered for his victory over Kostya Tszyu, then known as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, after the Australian champion failed to step towards the middle of the ring in the 12th round.    

On Nov. 26 of the same year Hatton defeated Carlos Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout and was named the 2005 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year.

His only loss happened last year against the indestructible Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who had scored a decisive victory over ageless Oscar de la Hoya in the light middleweight division seven months earlier.

Hatton fought Mayweather toe-to-toe in the early rounds, including the first round where the British pugilist landed a left that staggered the champion.  Hatton carried the fight until the sixth round when he claimed to have been distracted by referee Joe Cortez’s point deduction for hitting Mayweather on the back of the head.   

In the 10th round, Mayweather decked Hatton and the latter’s corner decided to throw in the towel in submission.   In the post-fight interview, the now-retired champion acknowledged Hatton’s toughness. "Ricky Hatton is one of toughest competitors I've faced. I hit him with some big ones but he kept coming.”

While Malignaggi is known for his speed and agility, his fight record attests to the fact that he has no punching power to bring down an opponent, a weakness that can be exploited by Hatton, whose speed, durability, and strength are established and chiseled in his ring exploits.

Certainly, this is a bout that is bound to make or unmake Malignaggi, but from the looks of it his chances of making it against Hatton are almost nil, with the “Hitman” out to make another public execution at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas this November.