Canada and USA
Boxing Has a Poet Laureate and His Name is Paulie Malignaggi

Boxing Poet Laureate – Paulie Malignaggi, a former world champion in two weight classes, had a rough go of it in his last fight on American soil. Danny Garcia worked him over pretty good before stopping him in the ninth frame. Off that fight, retirement seemed the proper course of action but the Brooklyn-born Malignaggi, who spent the early part of his boyhood in Sicily, troops on. Tomorrow night the 35-year-old campaigner opposes fellow Brooklynite Gabriel Bracero at the Barclays Center on the undercard of the show that features undefeated featherweights Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton in the main event. His bout will air on Showtime Extreme.
Why keep fighting and risk permanent damage? It’s a question that’s been asked of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of professional boxers. But perhaps no one has answered it as eloquently as Malignaggi. His open letter to the boxing community, in which he explains his need to keep on fighting, reads like a fine piece of poetry. Here it is.
Dear Boxing,
I don’t need the money
I don’t need the fame
But I still need to fight
Even my friends think I’m a little crazy
And maybe I am
Hey, I’d have never been a champ if I weren’t
I know fighters don’t age gracefully
I know fighters get hurt
But I also know in my heart I got to fight
Why? I’ll tell you
Love
Not the normal kind, though
More like a bad girlfriend
She’s broken my heart
She’ll do it again
And I keep coming back for more
I love her despite her treacheries
My mind knows better
My heart doesn’t
And it was my heart that got me here in the first place
You see, boxing loved me when no one else would
I was a kid from Sicily
A high school dropout
Boxing gave me things I couldn’t imagine
Boxing let me dream
And that’s what I want
That’s what I’m fighting for
That chance to dream again
(Yours truly, Paulie)
Boxing Poet Laureate
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 330: Matchroom in New York plus the Latest on Canelo-Crawford
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Vito Mielnicki Jr Whitewashes Kamil Gardzielik Before the Home Folks in Newark
-
Featured Articles17 hours ago
Results and Recaps from New York Where Taylor Edged Serrano Once Again
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Catching Up with Clay Moyle Who Talks About His Massive Collection of Boxing Books
-
Featured Articles5 days ago
From a Sympathetic Figure to a Pariah: The Travails of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
More Medals for Hawaii’s Patricio Family at the USA Boxing Summer Festival
-
Featured Articles7 days ago
Catterall vs Eubank Ends Prematurely; Catterall Wins a Technical Decision
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Richardson Hitchins Batters and Stops George Kambosos at Madison Square Garden