Since we're speaking on Paulie Malignaggi. An article posted on Grantland about him that was kind of interesting
Boxing
The Taming of Paulie Malignaggi
Boxing's great gadfly sells out. Is that so bad?
by Rafe Bartholomew on December 9, 2013
Does it matter that so many of the most memorable moments of the Brooklyn welterweight Paulie Malignaggi’s career have been tangential to what the boxer has done in the ring? Sure, most reasonable fans will concede that Malignaggi is a skillful and crafty fighter, with sharp reflexes that he uses to slip incoming punches and score his own counters, an intelligent jab that he pumps out to keep opponents at a safe distance, and the ability to execute a game plan. They will probably also mention that for a boxer who has won championship belts on three separate occasions, he has managed to do so while possessing barely any knockout power.
1 That means when Malignaggi wins, he usually does so by defusing the other guy’s offense, by out-pointing him with volume punching, and by controlling the rhythm of a fight — the amorphous concept of “ring generalship.” On Malignaggi’s best nights, victory comes with little dazzle and less drama.
Ahh, but Malignaggi knows
drama, and he has always found ways to generate it without the potential thrill of a 10-count. During his first title run, Malignaggi enlivened bouts through pure outlandishness. He clowned in the ring against overmatched opponents; his array of boots and trunks and robes hinted at a taste for sequins and tassels and oddly layered skirts that wouldn’t seem all that out of place in the
Haus of Gaga; and his hairstyles have run a gamut unlike any other in a sport where hideous coiffures are so common that one blog created a
semiannual award for “the worst haircut in boxing.” Throughout his almost 13-year professional career, we’ve seen Malignaggi go from Pauly D blowout to spiked, frosted tips (like a bleached-orange Sonic the Hedgehog) to a peach-fuzz baldie decorated with constellations of shaved-in swirls and designs that would make
Metta World Peace proud. The undisputed high point of Malignaggi’s follicular Odyssey came in 2008, when he fought Lovemore Ndou
2 with a head full of braided extensions that made him look like the Italian American love child of Milli Vanilli and Medusa. (Halfway through the fight, Malignaggi’s trainers had to chop off the snarled weave, which was impairing his vision, so Paulie could eke out a split decision.) More recently, when he has entered the ring with simple cornrows or a red-tinged
faux-hawk, it has been interpreted as a sign of Malignaggi’s mature, veteran stature in boxing.