Paulie Malignaggi, who won world titles in two weight classes and got as much out of his ability as he possibly could, announced his retirement from boxing on Monday -- the 19th anniversary of his first boxing match as an amateur.
Malignaggi's announcement, made via social media, came two days after he suffered an eighth-round knockout loss on a brutal left hook to the body from Sam Eggington on the Tony Bellew-Davis Haye undercard at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.
"19 years ago today - March 6, 1998 - I entered the ring for the first time as an amateur. That makes this as good a time as any for me to officially announce my retirement from competition," Malignaggi wrote. "My life is in a place 19 years later that I never dreamed it could be in. And I have boxing to thank for that. I gave absolutely everything I had to this sport for almost 2 decades, and I will never lose the many, many incredible memories that were created during that time."
Making it official. Thank you, boxing. pic.twitter.com/IrQqHsOtFc
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) March 6, 2017
The 36-year-old Malignaggi, ever the overachiever, won world titles at junior welterweight and welterweight against all odds and overcame a series of hand injuries to become one of boxing's most popular fighters and personalities.
It was his big personality, along with his ability, that helped him land several significant fights against Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Adrien Broner, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia and Juan Diaz (twice).
Malignaggi (36-8, 7 KOs) lost most of those fights but always sought out quality opponents, and what he lacked in power and speed, he more than made up for in guile, determination and heart.
While still an active boxer, Malignaggi, who turned pro in 2001, emerged as one of the best television analysts in the sport. He has worked for Showtime for several years and has been a frequent guest on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. In fact, just after losing to Eggington, Malignaggi returned to ringside to work the Bellew-Haye main event.
Now Malignaggi, an Italian-American from Brooklyn, New York, who grew up in Sicily, will turn his attention to broadcasting full time.
"I'm looking forward to a long, fruitful career now behind the mic, staying around the sport I love so much and the sport that changed my life for the better," Malignaggi said.
Malignaggi finished his career going 4-4 in his last eight fights, including three knockout losses. He had toyed with retirement before but never formally announced it.
His first big fight came in 2006 when he challenged Cotto for his junior welterweight world title and made a legion of fans with the heart he showed. Although Cotto pounded Malignaggi, broke his orbital bone and won a clear unanimous decision, Malignaggi never stopped fighting hard until the final bell.
Two fights later, Malignaggi outpointed Lovemore Ndou to win a 140-pound world title and made two successful defenses, outpointing Herman Ngoudjo and Ndou again in a rematch. That paved the way for the Hatton fight in which Malignaggi was outclassed in an 11th-round knockout loss. But Malignaggi, once again showing his heart, was livid when trainer Buddy McGirt stopped the fight even though Hatton was battering him.
Malignaggi later split a pair of decisions with Diaz, the former unified lightweight titleholder, in 2009 and then was knocked out in the 11th round by Khan, who made his American debut by coming to Malignaggi's New York turf to fight him in 2010.
Most wrote Malignaggi off at that point although he won three low-level fights in a row afterward and got a shot at welterweight titleholder Vyacheslav Senchenko. Malignaggi, a huge underdog, traveled to Senchenko's home country of Ukraine and scored a stunning ninth-round knockout to win a 147-pound belt in 2012. He retained the title by split decision against Pablo Cesar Cano and then lost the belt by split decision to Broner in 2013.
Malignaggi then bounced back with a decision win later in 2013 against former two-division titleholder Judah in the battle of Brooklyn. That would be the last notable win of Malignaggi's career.
In 2014, he challenged Porter for his welterweight world title and got wiped out in four rounds, after which Malignaggi contemplated retirement. He sat out for 16 months and returned in August 2015 to lose by one-sided ninth-round knockout to Garcia, the former junior welterweight world champion who was moving up to welterweight with Malignaggi serving as his steppingstone.
Malignaggi returned from the loss less than two months later to fulfill a lifelong dream of fighting in Italy. He won that fight and then won two more, including his final victory by decision against friendly Brooklyn rival Gabriel Bracero in July. But after Saturday's loss, Malignaggi knew it was time to walk away.
"Thank you to the sport of boxing, and thank you to everyone who supported me along the way on this incredible journey," he wrote. "I am forever grateful."
