Paulie Malignaggi was demolished by Shawn Porter during their welterweight fight on Saturday in D.C., and the 33-year-old fighter began talking retirement after his defeat.
Paulie went down twice in the fourth — the first time looked like a potential slip after a punch to the back of the head — but the second was indisputable. Malignaggi was throttled by Porter, who belted him several times and knocked him out to the point that the ropes could no longer keep him up.
Referee Sam Williams called an end to the fight when Paulie went down, marking the sixth defeat of the Magic Man’s career.
In his postfight interview with Showtime’s Jim Gray, Malignaggi talked like a man who was seriously considering calling it a career.
“I told [Porter] to go be great so if I do retire right now — I’m not sure I don’t want to make emotional decisions — I don’t want to do it all by losing to an average champion, I want to do it losing to a great champion, so I can say if this is my last fight, I lost to a great champion,” Malignaggi said of what he told Porter after the fight.
Gray then asked a follow-up question about whether Malignaggi is going to retire.
“I dunno, I can’t really think about that right now. If I give you an answer right now, I’ll tell you I’ll stop fighting, but maybe I’ll change my mind. I’m going to go home and think about it.”
That’s usually the case. Whether it’s boxing or MMA, most fighters who make impetuous decisions after getting the crud kicked out of them end up changing their minds. When a bad loss is fresh in your mind, you don’t want to experience it again. But a few months down the road when you’re all healed, bored, and looking for something to get your juices going again, your mind usually changes. I’m guessing that will happen with Malignaggi, who also enjoys the payday fights bring.
