clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Haye vs Bellew results: Eggington stops Malignaggi, retirement for Paulie?

Sam Eggington knocked out Paulie Malignaggi, and we may never seen the Brooklyn star fight again.

David Haye vs Tony Bellew - Heavyweight Fight Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Paulie Malignaggi was game as always, but a perfect body shot from Sam Eggington ended his night and potentially his professional boxing career, knocked out in the eighth round.

Malignaggi (36-8, 7 KO) had a three-fight winning streak coming into the bout, but was taking something of a mild step back up in competition here. He fought fairly well, overall, taking advantage of some of the flaws of Eggington (20-3, 12 KO), but he just couldn’t hold off the bigger, younger man for an entire 12 rounds.

“It was one of those body shots where it gets you perfectly. I was totally fine, but for about 15 seconds I just couldn’t breathe. It gets you perfectly. It’s a shame, because I wanted so badly to go out with a win in this arena,” Malignaggi told Sky Sports after the fight.

“But Sam makes it -- if there’s a silver lining, I could see him improving during the fight. So if I’m gonna get beat, this is par for the course. I’m the kind of opponent that makes him better. If I can’t get the win, I’m glad I at least played my role in his progression.”

Reportedly, Malignaggi was ahead on two of three judges’ scorecards at the time of stoppage.

He also told Sky Sports during the post-fight interview that he “probably (is) done” fighting, and that he plans to make an official announcement this coming week.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bad Left Hook Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your global boxing news from Bad Left Hook