Paulie Malignaggi, the stylish New York boxer who claimed a junior welterweight belt with a lopsided decision against Lovemore N'Dou on June 16, is enjoying his newfound status.
"It feels great," he said. "This is what I've been working so hard for. I'm being treated much differently. My friends always respected me, but, in general, I'm getting more respect in the street and boxing."
Although Malignaggi (24-1, 5 KOs) would like to someday defend his belt in Italy, he'd like his first defense to be in America against recognized world champion Ricky Hatton, who vacated the belt Malignaggi eventually won in order to fight higher profile opponent Jose Luis Castillo on June 23 instead of making a mandatory defense against N'Dou.
"I want to fight Hatton in the United States -- Madison Square Garden or Atlantic City. I want to make this happen," Malignaggi said. "He's saying I have his belt? It's my belt. I fought the real fighter of the two. Castillo was shot. [Hatton] has a lot of flaws I'll expose. [Welterweight] Luis [Collazo] exposed him. He's a solid fighter who sent Hatton back to junior welterweight. If he wants to fight the best in his weight class, he should fight me. He hasn't fought a sharp shooter like Paulie Malignaggi. He also cuts easily. I've proven to be a good, tough fighter. Not only will he have his hands full with me, he'll get his first loss.
"Hatton keeps trying to brainwash people saying his two best fights were against the two best fighters he fought, [Kostya] Tszyu and Castillo, but they were shells of what they used to be when they fought Hatton. Luis Collazo was the best fighter Hatton fought and Luis really won that fight. Hatton's made a career fighting guys past their prime. He fought one young lion, Luis Collazo, and he doesn't want to fight another one like me."
Since Hatton is talking about a December fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Malignaggi may have to look another direction for the time being.
"We've already gotten calls from Hatton's people," said Lou DiBella, Malignaggi's promoter. "They said they are interested in fighting Paulie in the spring, so they suggested we fight our mandatory and get it out of the way."
Malignaggi's mandatory is Canadian Herman Ngoudjo, who gave Castillo a very tough test in a January loss and is coming off a close decision win against former titlist Randall Bailey in an elimination bout.
"Ngoudjo is sort of made for Paulie," said DiBella, adding that whomever Malignaggi fights, he will fight again before the end of 2007.
"I want the biggest fight out there," Malignaggi said. "Maybe [lightweight champion Joel] Casamayor. Paulie Malignaggi and Dmitriy Salita is a big fight in New York City. We've been friends a long time but this is a huge fight in New York City. It would be a very interesting matchup."
Malignaggi would also be willing to move up in weight to fight welterweight Alfonso Gomez, a star of the first season of "The Contender" who knocked out Arturo Gatti (Malignaggi's idol) on July 14 in Atlantic City, N.J. Malignaggi attended the fight.
"I've told 'The Contender' people that Paulie and Alfonso Gomez is a fight that can be made," DiBella said. "If Hatton is not available to us this year, Paulie might make his mandatory and then look for the biggest thing out there. Paulie would love to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., even though Chavez is much bigger than Paulie. He'd fight Dmitriy in a big New York fight. He likes [unified lightweight titleholder] Juan Diaz. Paulie is a fan of the sport, so he gets excited about big matchups."