Our friend Luke Thomas of MMA Nation had a chance to speak quickly with Paulie Malignaggi last night after the Khan vs Peterson upset in Washington, DC. Malignaggi was on hand working the fight for BBC Radio in the United Kingdom, which is probably just step one to a career in boxing broadcasting for the New Yorker.
Here's what he had to say about the fight:
On how he scored it:
"I had it 114-111 Amir, but that was giving all the close rounds to Amir Khan. I gave him the close rounds because he was with the house promoter, and also because he was the champion. But if you give the close rounds to Lamont Peterson, I could have it for Lamont Peterson, as well."
On the performance of referee Joe Cooper:
"I don't have a problem with it. I fought Amir Khan. I think he gets away with pushing you down all the time, pushing you off. So I don't have a problem with it. I thought finally someone did something about it. He knocked out Zab Judah by holding him down with one hand and hitting him to the body with the other hand. So it's just a situation where I think (the ref) did his job."