ESPN staff
Paulie Malignaggi's promoter threatened to pull the New York fighter out of Saturday's Madison Square Garden showdown with Amir Khan after their weigh-in turned to chaos on Friday.
Khan weighed in half an ounce heavier than his rival before the pair squared up to each other, at which point both camps began an unprompted session of push-and-shove. Khan eventually exited the stage, but the incident left the Malignaggi camp visibly annoyed.
The altercation is said to have been caused by accusations of drug misuse inside the Khan camp, in relation to Floyd Mayweather Jnr's demands for testing ahead of a potential clash with Manny Pacquiao. Nevertheless, Malignaggi's promoter Lou DiBella threatened he would not stand for anymore unprofessional moments in the build-up to the fight.
"This is amateur," DiBella said. "The public was not supposed to be here. One more thing like this and I'm pulling (Malignaggi) out of the fight.
"My guy got roughed up by his people. Some gentleman. Go back to England."
Khan is trained by world class coach Freddie Roach, the same man who trains Pacquaio. And the Bolton fighter insists he has grown tired of scandalous accusations regarding Roach's methods.
"He was saying I was on drugs as well and how big I had gone but working with Alex Ariza (Roach's fitness and nutrition expert) and looking at how my body's changed, to be honest I've gone a lot slimmer," Khan said.
"I was a big, big lightweight and I've trimmed down and made my legs bigger.
"What people like Paulie Malignaggi don't realise is the work ethic and the training that me and Manny put into our work. We work so hard and it just disrespects the trainers because they help us so much, push us 110% and do a wonderful job with us."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
Source: espn.co.uk
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