Paulie Malignaggi wept and wailed and shouted from the proverbial roof tops, that he had bested Juan Diaz in the first meeting - and last noche the Brooklyn hot dog had his second shot at the Houston, Texas “Baby Bull.”

 

Helped that the pairing on the IBF charts had Diaz arriving as #3 and Malignaggi a rung below at numero cuatro.

 

Malignaggi the quicker out of the gate - shows good movement and is the busier of the two - again over stanzas two and three it’s all Malignaggi who looks the more comfortable of the two - effective jab and unorthodox movement has Diaz taking notes.

 

Diaz has the edge in round four as Malignaggi appears to have taken the round off - Diaz then claims number cinco and we now have a standoff - but then Malignaggi surprises Diaz with a big right hand and rocks the favorite.

 

Diaz picks up the pace as Malignaggi slows over numbers seven and eight and once again my unofficial sees it all square - Malignaggi grabs number nine - and then a questionable call by third hack in charge Geno Rodriguez in stanza ten when during an exchange Diaz loses his balance, and the gloves touch the canvas as he quickly gets to his feet ready to resume - not a chance as Rodriguez starts a count.

 

Now we’re talking 10-8 and a Malignaggi 96-93 advantage after ten stanzas with only two rounds left - they then swap rounds 11 and 12 - and they go to the scorecards.

 

All three scoring judges see it for Malignaggi 116-111 for the unanimous decision win - my unofficial also saw it Malignaggi to the tune of 115-112 in points and 7-5 under round by round method.

 

Post Scripts: Paul Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO) ~ age 29 - the hot dog lives - this outing no different than the last on his part. Problem was Diaz not the fighter at 140 as he was at 135. HBO commentator Maxie Boy Kellerman describes Malignaggi as showman - I see Paulie more clown than showman. Still, this was his night against a slowed version of the “Baby Bull.”
                   Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KO) ~ age 26 - Have always liked watching this kid when a lightweight - had always got it done via a small version of yesterday middleweight champion Jake “Bronx Bull” LaMotta - pressure, pressure, pressure. Last noche he simply never got in rhythm - next outing should prove revealing.

 

Referee Geno Rodriguez - another imposter faking it - close fight he calls very questionable knockdown on Diaz during “championship” stanza ten - bad timing to say the least.   

 

………………………………...................................................................................

 

HBO juiced its presentation with tape of Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson - I fought off sleep inducing medication over six repetitious stanzas of Klitschko pitching - Johnson catching before packing it in.

 

My guess going in was the “Kingpin” would resemble a bowling pin courtesy of a Klitschko strike before the midway point - no such luck - it went the full twelve without Johnson claiming a single stanza.

 

So much for multiple champions at each weight class: example: Heavyweight champions of the world: WBC Vitali Klitschko; IBF Wladimir Klitschko; WBO Wladimir Klitschko; WBA David Haye.

 

Enough said.

 

GEL -