Paulie Malignaggi Likely Won't Fight Senchenko After Golden Boy Loses Purse Bid

by Scott Christ on Jan 26, 2012 1:23 PM EST in Boxing News Analysis

Paulie Malignaggi most likely won't fight Vyacheslav Senchenko in his next bout. (Photo by John Gichigi/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Paulie Malignaggi apparently won't be fighting WBA welterweight titlist Vyacheslav Senchenko after today's purse bid, which saw Senchenko's promoters win with a $1 million bid, according to Malignaggi via his Twitter page. Here's the rundown of Paulie's reaction:

"I am up! and in a very pissed off mood. I have bad news. I feel like I let my fans down. Senchenko and Ukraine have won the purse bid for 1 million dollars!!! I have so much to say but I have to hold it in. First time I won't be in full blast mode. I'll keep the world posted on what's happening, hopefully something can happen and I get back in the ring."

Malignaggi did tweet that the fight wouldn't be happening, but took those down.

The fight was announced as going to purse bid on January 17, and it turned out about the same way that Senchenko's last purse bid fight, to face Brad Solomon, turned out. Senchenko vs Solomon didn't happen either after Senchenko's team won with a big bid.

Malignaggi simply isn't going to Ukraine for what he probably would feel is low money, fighting on Senchenko's soil as a big underdog because of assumed hometown bias. If he negotiates any further, it's likely Senchenko's team will try to lowball him as much as they can, knowing that he won't travel for relative peanuts.

Senchenko (32-0, 21 KO) is one of boxing's least-regarded "champions," because he's been a hide-a-belt guy facing what may be generously called fringe contenders during his nearly three-year reign with the WBA belt.

The fight is almost certainly not going to happen after this, which was pretty much expected. Golden Boy wasn't likely to match the high bid, because there's no reason for them to spend a million dollars on this fight as nobody in the States knows who Senchenko is, and in the end, it's pretty much pointless to have even held the purse bid or appointed Malignaggi to the status of mandatory challenger.

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Senchenko has the longest streak of not having faced any mandatories while keeping his belt by over a year. He’s literally never fought a mandatory because he’s pulled this with all of them and nobody wants to go to Ukraine. That said, I’m not sure I’d turn down the fight if I was Paulie. Yes, hometown bias, yadda yadda, but I doubt he gets more than $300k (his cut of the purse) to fight anyone else, plus this is for a title, plus since nobody will watch it he can claim robbery to the press if he loses.

IIRC, Senchenko’s promoters are the Klitschko brothers, so it’s not like he has some podunk promoter though.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jan 26, 2012 2:53 PM EST reply actions

Do they have any chance of making 1 million on this fight?

I don’t see how this could be profitable. Or is part of the deal that paulie gets his 300k, the WBA gets theirs and if this fight were to happen he would get the rest. Cause I just don’t see 700k happening on this fight.

by journeyintosound on Jan 26, 2012 3:01 PM EST up reply actions

Who knows

Ukraine is hardly a third world country. There have been some pretty big gates in Russia and Ukraine before, plus they’d probably get a number of networks to buy the fight (Russia has a cable network devoted exclusively to combat sports, but I can’t remember the name at the moment, and Polsat and/or Eurosport usually like to buy up fights like this one). For a title fight in Kiev, it doesn’t seem beyond the pale to sell 15,000 seats at an average of $50 a ticket and then make up the rest with sponsorships and TV rights.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jan 26, 2012 3:11 PM EST up reply actions

Good chance BoxNation would nab the fight, too. Paulie has a decent UK following thanks to his fights with Khan and Hatton, plus it’s another world title fight for them to advertise is on the network.

Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."

by Scott Christ on Jan 26, 2012 3:43 PM EST up reply actions

Drat, I was looking to cure my insomnia

"I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world."
—Muhammad Ali…

by Boss Man on Jan 26, 2012 3:23 PM EST reply actions

Senchenko

sounds like a big pussy.

by Matt Mosley on Jan 26, 2012 3:47 PM EST reply actions

Relatively speaking, of course.
Come out of the Ukraine you coward!!!…………Also relative.
Not many boxers are cowards, but at this level he is acting like one.
He will get bumped of his shoddily built perch as soon as he faces a real challenge, i predict.

by Matt Mosley on Jan 26, 2012 3:50 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe

I certainly don’t like fighters who hold belts hostage, but in this situation I don’t see how it’s so unreasonable to win the bid and hope that Malignaggi will go to the Ukraine. Lots of US and UK fighters refuse to travel, especially once they have world titles and can earn decent money at home and the main difference here is that people hear that it’s the Ukraine and make assumptions.

Having said that though, he can’t be considered credible without fighting someone credible and will likely lose when he does and return to obscurity.

by thirdslip on Jan 26, 2012 5:02 PM EST up reply actions