Is Paulie Malignaggi the most underrated boxer right now?

I think he has gotten a lot of respect maybe more than he deserves. He has fought limited competition and when he has stepped up he got clobbered by Cotto. He will earn my respect when he beats an opponent like Ricky Hatton, Junior Witter, or even Demetrius Hopkins. even against mediocre competition he has not looked spectacular. Herman Ngoudjo clearly hurt him in his last fight and he was unable to impressively dominate a full round against him.

If I were to pick a fighter that was underated I might pick Paul Williams since he is in a division where there is so much talent that he is put in the background. But when you have Shane Mosely, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya all in your division it is a challenge to get respect. He had won an impressive decision against Antonio Margarito who everyone in the division avoids and also was signed to fight Kermit Cintron before Cintron hurt his hand. So he has done well when he has stepped up.

Also Juan Diaz hasn't gotten respect from Ring Magazine despite unifying a title by beating Julio Diaz and making Acelino Freitas quit on his stool. I don't think Joel Cassamayor stands a chance in the ring with him but still Ring Magazine has Cassamayor as the number one lightweight.

I just watched him fight for the first time, and I was not impressed. I understand it was not his best fight, but to me he seems like a Floyd Mayweather that sometimes forgets to box and tries to brawl, and Malinaggi just cannot hurt most guys, as we just saw. I had that fight 115-113 NGudjo. The guy that had it 117-111 is crazy. I hope we see a rematch; not to say that NGudjo clearly won, but it was closer than the judges had it. To get back to your question, you are probably right. Malinaggi is a good fighter from what I know of him, and he has some heart, but until recently, Ricky Hatton was the top dog in the Junior Welterweight division. Perhaps in his next bout Malinaggi will get the recognition he deserves, although I'm not sure he's as underrated as you may say.

Perhaps his next title defense should be on the Hopkins vs Calzaghe undercard? That would certainly get him exposure.

He certainly is among some of the most underrated boxers now because so many fans favor the boxer with heavier hands & less skills than slick Paulie has.----BTW - elmer keeps posting answers re: Paulie's gel & his masculinity but fails to realize that Paulie's " look " is a " New York Thing " not a girlie thing.

No. Malignaggi got alot of respect from his loss to Cotto. He kept fighting back despite eating vicious shots and never quit despite absorbing quite a bit of punishment.

Two of the more underrated boxers are The Baby Bull, Juan Diaz and Edwin Valero.

Diaz is a lightweight champ who throws punches from start to finish and is the best combination puncher of any fighter today, IMO.

Valero is a young, untested super featherweight champ who has won all 23 bouts by KO and won his first 18 fights by FIRST ROUND KO. He's a beast in the ring and hopefully he'll get his wish to fight Manny Pacquiao in a unification bout. A bout which would surely pack the fireworks of Hagler-Hearns for however long it lasted.

I Iike Malignaggi and it does seem like he is one of the most underrated boxers out there. I dont think that networks dont want though just because he does bring quite a bit of money in.

I don't think he's underated among fight fans,but to networks maybe.HBO would not give him a date to fight,but luckily Showtime allowed us to see his first title defense.True fight fans would enjoy watching him fight,but to the casual fan who is just looking for ko's,well they might pass;not being able to appreciate the sweet science.Sadly we in the boxing community loose out on seeing many good boxers who are not given t.v. time due to a low ko to win ratio.

I dunno, the dude clearly gets his eyebrows waxed and uses styling gel or hair mousse to get the dainty "wet look". Didn't Cotto question his masculinity in that regard?

http://www.fightnews.com/1photos/malignaggi_pmh.jp...

Apparently, Ngoudo landed a right and gobs of hair gel went flying...

****edit***

A New York thing? Had no idea, but please keep me informed on these things as I'll never take the time to keep up with fashion.

nope

No.