John Gichigi - Bongarts/Getty Images
Paulie Malignaggi is ready to face Robert Guerrero on May 5. (Photo by John Gichigi/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Paulie Malignaggi says that he and Robert Guerrero were offered an undercard spot on the May 5 HBO pay-per-view card featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Miguel Cotto in the main event, and says that he's accepted -- but Guerrero has refused the fight.
In a statement sent out from Paulie, he questions Guerrero's desire to fight. Here's the full open letter from Malignaggi to Guerrero:
For the past 3 months, you and your team have attempted to trick the media and boxing public into believing that you were on a short list to fight the best fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather. You also called out every Golden Boy Promotions boxer you could between 135 to 147 pounds, proclaiming your health after shoulder surgery and your readiness to step into the ring in a big fight on May 5th. Every time you had a big bowel movement, your publicist sent an email blast about it.
Two days ago, you and I were offered to fight each other on May 5th as an important supporting pay-per-view bout on the Mayweather vs. Cotto blockbuster PPV. I am sure you will agree that Mayweather vs. Cotto will be the biggest pay-per-view show of the year and on the biggest platform imaginable at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and on HBO PPV. Millions of boxing fans will have the opportunity to finally see if you can back up your recent widespread chatter on the internet.
Robert, I accepted the challenge to fight you within 2 hours of being offered the fight. But I have been informed by our promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, that you have categorically refused to fight me. This news was absolutely shocking to me because I have seen you transform yourself from a cute, soft spoken, California kid to well...someone like me. I give you props for trying to wake up the old boxing farts with sound bites like telling Mayweather to "Step Up Punk" or telling Victor Ortiz 3 days ago that "if you're really a true warrior, you'll step in the ring with me." But take it from an older and wiser Magic Man that has never needed to hide behind a publicist and has always backed up his words by stepping in with the best fighters in the world....if you start talking the way you have been talking...you better be ready to accept whatever challenges come your way.
Robert, I know that you and your team have been present in the Arena for my past two fights and you have seen how good I have looked in dismantling my opponents. And maybe your advisors think that all the garlic in Gilroy won't protect you should we fight on May 5th. But you need to find the Mexican warrior within yourself and back up your hot air by stepping into the ring on the day of pride and heritage for your people, Cinco De Mayo. Because if you think you deserve to fight the elite boxers in this world, you need to earn it with more than just a trigger happy publicist.
You are a paper Champion that has never fought anyone in the Top 100 of boxing. Beating a geriatric Joel Casamayor or the Australian punching bag that is Michael Katsidis does not earn you the right to call out Floyd Mayweather, Amir Khan, and Victor Ortiz. Beating me on May 5th might get you one step closer to that honor.
So come on, Robert. Don't become a big joke with the boxing world. What are you afraid of? Coming off shoulder surgery? I have had more surgery on my hands than an aging Beverly Hills housewife. Are you for real or are you truly just a ghost with a good publicist?
Always,
The Magic Man
If I know anything about Team Guerrero, they won't wait long to respond.
How do you feel about a Malignaggi vs Guerrero fight on 5/5?
0 recs | 36 comments
Haters gonna hate.
Paulie gonna Paulie.
Olbas - February 10, 2012
I noticed today Steve Kim is calling Guerrero out for always………calling people out, all from his win over Katsidis and his nearly fight with Maidana.
As one fan said, who has Guerrero actually beat to warrant him calling all these big names out?
Just fight someone and build your name instead of trying to build your career on twitter.
Matt Mosley - February 10, 2012
agree 100%. FIGHT SOMEBODY for God’s sake…This is all too typical of boxing in the 21st century.
Sammlung - February 10, 2012
Turning this fight down doesn’t exactly look good for Guerrero given all of his chirping but waiting for the Alexander-Maidana winner might be the better option. That would be a much better win on his resume and would probably be its own headliner (possibly in his hometown) as well.
I don’t exactly know what a Malignaggi win would do for him. He’d sound even more ridiculous than he does now if he starts calling people out after a victory over Paulie.
bachwards - February 10, 2012
I don’t know. The more he talks the more he’s getting clowned by fans and the press. As of right now he’s just a twitter beast and an inactive fighter, nothing more.
Sammlung - February 10, 2012
Yeah but acting like you’re entitled to be facing big name guys coming off a Malignaggi win sounds even more ludicrous than acting that way after a Katsidis win. I find Guerrero’s call-outs as annoying as anyone but jumping on the guy for turning down an offer that really wouldn’t do much at all for his career doesn’t really follow from that.
bachwards - February 10, 2012
fighting Paulie
On such a big PPV event would be good for him (It worked for Bradley). Don’t see the hesitation, unless he can’t handle Paulie’s sharp jab and footwork. Take the fight, recognition & money.
honorablecbm - February 10, 2012 via iPhone app
The Casamayor fight didn’t really have anything to do with Bradley getting Pacquiao though and if anything further harmed his reputation after all of the Khan stuff.
bachwards - February 10, 2012
Just signing with TR got him the fight
Fighting Casamayor on such a large PPV event gave him exposure to the casual fan.
honorablecbm - February 10, 2012 via iPhone app
the khan stuff will be forgiven after this clash
honorablecbm - February 10, 2012 via iPhone app
Yeah but the casual fans were exposed to a stinker of a fight. If anything that fight probably made Top Rank more hesitant about making Pacquiao-Bradley, not less.
bachwards - February 10, 2012
Right. NOT
pakinpower - February 10, 2012
I’m sorry but what about that fight made Top Rank or anyone else for that matter excited about seeing Tim Bradley in action again? It sure as hell didn’t make him anything close to a frontrunner to fight Pacquiao.
bachwards - February 10, 2012
They gave him exposure on a big night.
And set him in place for this fight. Exactly as planned.
They actually like to try to make careers and re-make them (see Cotto for both). Their contracts are made so they can invest in development and try to make names for their fighters and make them money…you know, like promoters are supposed to do.
They don’t like to be ‘event’ promoters. They like manangement contracts where there are possibilities of developing the brand for their fighter. As in we are in the Timothy Bradley business.
Like in any agency, some guys rise and some guys fall, some are shined upon and others not. That’s just life in show business (Actulally that just life) What I do know is that their (preferred) model is to make fighters and create value in them and for them. And they do a damn good job at doing so.
Talk to Bradley. See if he’s happy.
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
For the definition of 'event' promotion
See GBP and Floyd, Cotto, Mosely. None are under contract. GB is simply promoting them on that night.
There is nothing right or wrong about that model. It’s just not the one TR prefers.
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
Casamayor, Prescott, Marquez. None were under contract to Top Rank during that card either.
bachwards - February 11, 2012
Manny, Bradley and Alvarado were
The other were opponents. Same as Shane before.
But neither headliner, Floyd nord Cotto are GB.
And that makes the four biggest names NOT their fighters. As I said, there is nothing wrong or right about that approach buyt the TR ppreference is for committment noth ways before investment.
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
Alvarez is the third biggest name on this card and Mosley is just as much a mere opponent in this setting as he was on Top Rank’s card.
bachwards - February 11, 2012
Mayweather/Cotto >>> Not GB fighters
Alvarez/Mosely >>> SSM not GBP
Quillin/Wright >>> Both GBP
You have a headliner with two of the biggest names; neither your own fighter. You invest, make a cut, they make the money. Fair enough but your investment pool just got diminished.
Alvarez is yours under contract and you put him in with an opponent not your own. you make your percentage on the kid and pay out some to Shane.
Quillin is yours to make and you serve him Winky Wright. Both are yours but the fight helps you. Or does it.
If you like that model, great. The competition doesn’t.
Manny fights Marquez under TR banner; the former their star attraction, the latter formerly under contract with their competitor but seduced by contract.
Mike Alvarado becomes an attraction because he is matched well and wins. His star is shinier.
Bradley gets a a big pay day and big spot light and stops the old man from Cuba. It’s a win win.
Now he gets to be a star for another night.
Honestly, the GB event has little strategy except to promote their brand. The TR strategy has elevated everyone of the their fighters plus the one not under contract, Brescott.
Call it startegic planning, matchmaking,or whatever you want but it is hard to argue with which company makes stars and re-makes them better when they de-rail.
Cotto and Margarito are making fortunes today; the latter depite his lack of ring success. cotto was beaten by TR’s own Margarito and Pacquaio and then was served in this order, Foreman, Mayorga, and Margarito. You want to make a fading star look good. Serve his some over-cooked fare like those last three. And Voila.
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
I have no idea why you wrote all of that when the only substantive difference between the two cards in terms of promotional ties is Floyd, the headliner of the Golden Boy PPV, being a free agent. And it’s utterly silly to act like that fact alone is some grand failing on the part of Golden Boy when Top Rank or any other promoter would still love to have Floyd under a similar deal. Other than that, the rest of the card features Golden Boy fighters in equivalent mismatches against guys under their own banner or free agents.
Here look, I can even rewrite one of your very sentences to feature Golden Boy stars appearing as parts of a long term strategy:
Alvarez gets a big pay day and a big spotlight and could become the first one to stop the old man from Pomona. It’s a win win. Then he might get to be the star at another later event.Why is it so harmful to Golden Boy’s profits to put him in with Mosley, yet this issue never arises at all with respect to Bradley-Casamayor? Keep in mind too that Alvarez will contribute far more eyes to the card than Bradley did for the Pacquiao fight.
Again, I could just as easily have written the same thing about Alvarado-Prescott, except horror of horrors, it was not even the case that both guys were Top Rank’s to keep!!! Plus Quillen could become the first to stop the old man from Washington, so that means it might be a win win for everyone!!!
bachwards - February 11, 2012
GB is running a whole event around Floyd
TR for Manny. See the difference. Manny makes everyone, himself and the promotiional company the money. Floyd makes the money. GB gets diddly.
Their pool of cash gets thinner, TR;’s deeper.
Bradley fights Casa to set him upto fght Pac.
Thats money again for all, TR included.
The best that GBOP does by giving Mosely to Canelo is that Maybe….maybe…he gets to fight Floyd later. But keep an eye on Canelo. Because he is looking elsewhere.
You can take your money and invest whereever you likbut if GBP asked me for mine and I havd an opprtunity to invest in TR, it wouldnt give it two thoughts.
You do what you wish with yours.
BTW, check gate attendance at GB fights compared to GB. One promotes and sells tickets. The other….well
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
More tangential rubbish. I said nothing about investments, gate attendance, or anything of the sort. I was simply making the point that the long-term matchmaking you wrote all that flowery prose about appears little different in practice from what Golden Boy is doing at this event.
This was of course also the best thing that Top Rank could have done with the Bradley-Casamayor fight (though of course the idea that a shit fight like that is what effectively set Bradley up to take on Pacquiao, and not the mere fact that he was signed with Top Rank and did not have the onerous demands of Cotto or Marquez, is silly). Praising Bradley-Casamayor after the fact while slamming the Alvarez fight when the same basic uncertainties surrounded both is nothing more than a double standard.
bachwards - February 11, 2012
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS HUGE
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
Moreover
NOT TRUE AT ALL.
They could give a rat’s ass about a fighter that is impossible to deal with, overvalues himself, leaves squat on the table, and wants everything his way.
Nobody in Vegas at TR is losing a drop of sleep over Floyd. He will be gone soon enough the way Tyson before him and Oscar Leonard before him….and they will still be promoting fights
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
If you don’t think Top Rank would want to promote a Mayweather-Cotto fight like this even if they don’t completely control both fighters then I think this conversation is effectively at an end. Arum still prattling on a few weeks ago about being willing to put up Mayweather’s guarantee for a Pacquiao fight tells me otherwise.
Golden Boy continues to work with Mayweather because he makes the company money. It’s obviously not as much as it would be with someone they’d completely control but the idea that these aren’t profitable endeavors for them is asinine.
bachwards - February 11, 2012
My conversationwith you always end where they start
You think you know what you are talking about with your constant (I follow your periodic posts) diatribe about Top Rank but you form your pre-disposed opinions without sources other than the internet.
I know that Arum thinks Floyd is ‘out of his mind’, a ‘narcissicist’ and has an absurd sense of his own value. He is impossible for even duBoef to understand…and they talk more often than is reported.
In the end however, they simply have too many stars to give a shit.
They would have liked to find Cotto more opportunities BUT not unless he committed to more than one fight. That is how they operate.
Floyd make no one much money but himself. ad God bless Him. But these are businessmen who will be making for another 45 years just like they have the first 45.
Sure Arum wanted Floyd to fight Manny, his fighter, as well he should . He flew many miles and worked every angle to make it happen. The fruitless negotiations surpassed two years.
But it didnt and Manny is worth a fortune.
Floyd’s come and go.
And everyone sleeps.
Keep an eye on the future. Let’s see who signs with who. As I said, put your money where your mouth is and tell me that you would give Schaefer money over tn years than Arum and Top Rank.
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
He wasn’t the first choice for this fight, and arguably wasn’t the second either. Casamayor was a shit opponent and made for a shit fight for casual and hardcore fans alike. As such, I think the only impact that fight had on him getting Pacquiao was negative.
bachwards - February 11, 2012
And power. You forgot Paulie’s power.
Olbas - February 10, 2012
That’s probably why Guerrero is hesitating………………that, and the fact the fight would suck balls.
DPlainview - February 10, 2012
“all the garlic in Gilroy won’t protect you,” that is good stuff. This is my favorite Paulie moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbLrPrUtKkY
mambocowboy - February 10, 2012
I love Malignaggi… he talks a lot, but he works hard and he usually fights good fighters. I love that letter too btw…
Apprentice - February 10, 2012
Guerrero
Should fight the Maidana-Alexander winner IMO
49erEmpire - February 10, 2012 via mobile
I think Maidana would destroy him… heck… Alexander might actually land a job on him as well.
Zocalo - February 11, 2012
The fight honestly does nothing for me, but Guerrero does need to fight somebody, anybody.
Kory Kitchen - February 10, 2012
Where the Hell is Guerrero's promoter
And why is he resorting to doing his his management’s work
pakinpower - February 10, 2012
This pic is just freaky…
Zocalo - February 11, 2012
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