Paulie Malignaggi stuns at Brooklyn boxing presser with announcement he will fight for Golden Boy

BY Mitch Abramson
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, September 29th 2010, 4:00 AM

It certainly was a surprise. Oscar de la Hoya was in town Tuesday to hype his deal to do boxing shows at the Barclays Center in 2012.

Instead, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer took the chance to announce that he had signed Malignaggi to fight under the Golden Boy banner. Malignaggi, 29, literally bounced to the lectern to thank Schaefer and de la Hoya and to announce that he would be fighting as a welterweight at a press conference at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn.

It was a jarring sight.

It wasn't so long ago that Malignaggi, beaten and feeling embarrassed in a lopsided loss to Amir Khan at the Garden in May, discussed the possibility of retiring or fighting in Europe. Now, he sounded and looked invigorated, wearing a baseball cap and enough jewelry to adorn a family of four. Schaefer said that he would fight for Golden Boy, possibly for a title next year.

"It's the best career move that I could make at this point in my career," Malignaggi told the Daily News. "These guys are coming to the East Coast, they're coming to Brooklyn; It's a great move for me."

It also wasn't so long ago that Malignaggi (27-4, five knockouts) was signed with the Brooklyn-born promoter Lou DiBella, a pairing that seemed as though it was made in promotional heaven. For nearly 10 years, they did well together: Malignaggi won a world title in 2007 and was featured in several high-profile bouts despite suffering hand problems and not being a particularly hard-punching fighter.

But Malignaggi says he grew disillusioned with DiBella and in the direction of his career and in July he bought out his contract for $75,000. While he credits DiBella for getting him big fights, Malignaggi also criticized DiBella for not looking after him and protecting him in certain situations. Still, his comments seemed particulary harsh against DiBella.

"Lou didn't promote me but he had me under contract," Malignaggi said. "Lou never promoted me. He got me fights and I won the fights. Anybody who thinks that I should be grateful for anyone who's been involved in my career – they should be grateful to me for all the money I made them because everybody leached off of me."

Added Malignaggi: "I won a world title and nobody even knew that it happened. That's how little promotion there was for the fight."

Malignaggi was also critical of DiBella for allowing his fight with Miguel Cotto in 2006 to be fought in a small ring with an earlier than usual weigh-in the day before the fight. He also found fault with DiBella for allowing him to fight Juan Diaz in Texas last year for what he described as a hometown referee and judges.

"Lou did his job [of getting me fights] but he didn't go above and beyond," Malignaggi said. "It's like your parents for raising you. You don't thank them for raising you - they did their job. He's a promoter and made money off me. It's not like he did it out of the kindness of his heart. He did his job. He didn't maximize what was there for me."

When told of Malignaggi's comments, Dibella was upset but chose not to reply.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," he said.

In an unrelated situation, Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said that he is close to hiring the boxing agent, Don Majeski, a resident of College Point Queens, to run the New York-based office for Golden Boy when the Barclays Center opens in 2012. Golden Boy struck a three-year deal for monthly shows there.

"We are looking to build up a presence here once the Barclays Center opens," Schaefer said.