The suddenly white-hot Paulie Malignaggi says he's willing to fight Amir Khan, but not on Khan or Golden Boy's terms. BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno spoke with Malignaggi in the linked article:
"I know [the proposed date of ] May 1 is a Golden Boy date and I'm not fighting on a Golden Boy date. Last year I fought Juan Diaz on a Golden Boy date and got robbed. Then I fought him on co-promotion and won. I'm not going to be used as an opponent on another promoter's show. Amir Khan is a not a star in the United States and he has to earn it like we all do," Malignaggi said to BoxingScene.com.
This seems a bit much, sort of over-the-top paranoia about promoters controlling dates and thus judges, but he also warned of getting screwed in Texas and then crazy ol' Gale Van Hoy put the hurt on logic with his scorecard, so Paulie can talk. And will talk.
Malignaggi says that unlike Khan, he's willing to fight Marcos Maidana, too:
"If Maidana was my mandatory, I would have fought him. If HBO puts up the money and gives me date, I'll fight Maidana right now. People think just because you can punch, that it means you can fight, but that's not the case. I'm up for fighting Amir Khan and I'm up for fighting Marcos Maidana."
Love him or hate him, Malignaggi is one of those guys that has never backed down from a challenge. He's fought Cotto, fought Hatton, fought Juan Diaz at a crossroads in his career. And here he is, after a lot of people had written him off, one of the most in-demand fighters in the sport. Go figure.