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Former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi has been forced to withdraw from his May 29 PBC on Spike fight against Danny O'Connor after suffering an injury in training, which Dan Rafael has reported is a "deep cut" above his eye.
Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KO) hasn't fought since he was steamrolled in four rounds by Shawn Porter in April 2014, but recently added controversial strength and conditioning coach Memo Heredia to his team, in spite of his constant quibbles with Manny Pacquiao and other fighters he thinks have used performance-enhancing drugs.
He was to face O'Connor (25-2, 9 KO), a 30-year-old fighter from Framingham, Mass., who appears to have peaked at the upper club levels of the sport.
Instead of Malignaggi-O'Connor, PBC on Spike will be airing what is frankly a much better fight between Bryan Vasquez (34-1, 18 KO) and Javier Fortuna (27-0-1, 20 KO), a couple of actual contenders at 130 pounds. While we're certainly not rooting for injury or for a fighter to miss a payday, it's good news that there's a more than suitable replacement for the bout.
The main event, of course, will be a 12-round welterweight fight between Amir Khan and Chris Algieri. The card will emanate from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.