http://fighthype.com/news/article16450.html
PAULIE "THE BROOKLYN BRAWLER" MALIGNAGGI HOPES VICTORY OVER SHAWN PORTER WILL LEAD TO WELTERWEIGHT UNIFICATION WITH FLOYD MAYWEATHER
By
Ben Thompson | March 25, 2014
"Obviously it would depend on how I win the IBF title; not just winning it, but winning it in a good fashion puts me near the front of the class among some other fighters," stated two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi, who talked about the importance of his upcoming April 19 showdown with IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter. As far as Malignaggi is concerned, a victory over Porter, combined with his recent accomplishments, should be enough to put him next in line for an opportunity to face undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd "Money" Mayweather.
"If you look at my last 3 years or so, 3-plus years since I got with Golden Boy and since I got with Eric Brown, my trainer, I might be undefeated. The only loss I took was the Adrien Broner fight, you know. I've steadily shown a lot of world-class ability. I've grown as a fighter. I've grown as an individual," Malignaggi explained. "I feel I'm in the best place and best position possible, even in my life in general, to be able to handle the pressure of a big Floyd Mayweather fight, so I think winning the IBF title and creating a chance for unification, you know, that's bar none; that puts you among the big names in the weight class."
Provided he's victorious and becomes a three-time world champion, Malignaggi also brought up valid reasons why he would make the most sense financially over other opponents for Mayweather.
"Let's face it, who's name is really in the Mayweather mix? Danny Garcia? Okay, he's at 140; he's not coming up yet. Amir Khan? Amir Khan's a good fighter, but he hasn't looked so spectacular lately. I mean, who else is there? Keith Thurman? Needs some bigger names; needs some more name recognition. A solid fighter, but needs some more name recognition to get a fight of that magnitude," he continued. "So really, am I out of line to say that I can be in there too? Am I really that much out of line? I mean, you can't just invent names either; you can't go to Top Rank either, you know what I mean, because there's that whole boxing war thing going on. So really, am I that much out of line to say, 'Oh yo, I belong in the mix too. I won the IBF title, yo. I belong in the mix too'? I'm not; I'm not at all."
Malignaggi added, "People are so close-minded, they kind of go off the other side and start saying, 'Oh, what is this guy thinking. This guy did this and this guy did that in his career.' Yeah, but I'm in a better position now. I'm at my best right now; not because I'm in my prime because part of my prime was a few years ago, but I'm in the best position possible to mazximize my potential, and when I maximize my potential, I'm sill a handful to deal with."
@krackdagawd......I'm actually on Paulie's side on this. I believe a victory over Shawn Porter for the IBF title is better than a non-title victory over Luis Collazo.
Plus, he's finally admitting he lost to AB
But yeah, I'd give Paulie the nod over Khan if he beats Porter
:
with every punch that lands
