By Mitch Abramson, New York Daily News
Part of the appeal of Paulie Malignaggi, the former junior welterweight champion from Brooklyn, is his wise-cracking, kid-on-the-corner, say-anything persona. His mouth, to some extent, is credited with landing him his fight with English superstar Amir Khan at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 15, to be shown on HBO. A very good bout between Nate Campbell and Victor Ortiz is in the televised co-feature.
But Malignaggi's jabbering is both a blessing and a curse.
For the past several months Malignaggi has made it clear that he believes Manny Pacquiao, who just dominated a very strong welterweight in Joshua Clottey, is doping.
Khan's trainer, Freddie Roach, who also trains Pacquiao, dropped a bombshell at a news conference yesterday by hinting that he might try to drag Malignaggi into the defamation lawsuit that Pacquiao filed in December against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his supporters. The suit alleges that Mayweather Jr. and his camp maliciously, knowingly, publicly and erroneously accused Pacquiao of doping.
Roach did not say when he might try to add Malignaggi to the lawsuit or if he has the power to do so.
But Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, doesn't believe that Malignaggi will be attached to the suit or if a new suit will be filed involving Malignaggi.
"Freddie is not involved in the lawsuit," Arum said. "While he is a great trainer and Manny listens to him as far as fighting, I don't think Freddie has any influence on who he's going to sue. To my knowledge, they have not contemplated adding anyone to the suit."
Dan Petrocelli, Pacquiao's Los Angeles-based attorney, didn't return a message seeking comment.
Malignaggi reacted by downplaying the severity of the grievance against Mayweather Jr.
"I really don't think the lawsuit is real," Malignaggi said. "I think it's for show."
Source: nydailynews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment