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Rick Reeno reports that a potential rematch between Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi could go down if bigger fights aren't available for either man, as HBO is "very interested" in the idea.
Diaz, as you're no doubt aware, won a spirited but controversial decision over Malignaggi on August 22 in Houston. The silver lining for everyone involved is that without specific numbers, HBO was pleasantly surprised by the TV rating for the fight, which surprises me as well. There was very little talk about the matchup before it took place, though a ton came about after. If this fight did good TV ratings, then people got emotional at the end one way or the other, and as Eric Bischoff said, controversy creates cash. Don't think that everyone will tune out of boxing because of a controversial score; a lot of people will want to see Paulie "make things right" should they rematch. Plus, it was a surprisingly good fight, too.
The only other talk for these guys past a rematch has been Diaz wanting to fight Ricky Hatton, which will not happen until 2010 if ever, and Malignaggi potentially fighting fellow New Yorker Zab Judah, but Judah is pulling out of fights left and right so you might as well forget about that.
It might be that Diaz-Malignaggi II simply makes the most sense for both of the fighters, especially if HBO is flat-out pushing for it to happen.
Rick Reeno has the same theoretical roadblocks I do, the big one being location. Diaz's manager Willie Savannah already said they won't go to New York to fight Malignaggi, which I wouldn't expect them to, honestly. And there is no way in hell that Malignaggi will go back to Texas, so what are you looking at then? Atlantic City sounds good, but Diaz's people might have the same reservations with AC that they do with New York. There's really nowhere else they're going to draw, even considering the talk their fight generated and the surprising TV ratings. Vegas would be a really tough sell for this fight. Anywhere but Texas, NYC or AC probably requires a strong B-side or even this fight being the B-side.