Malignaggi Taking Summer To Decide on Retirement

Hang ’em up, or give it another go? Comes a time in every fighters’ life where that question begs to be asked. Paul Malignaggi is there right now…

How much longer will I do this? has been nagging at him for awhile, as the political BS, and the grueling and repetitive training camps pile up. But after his last bout, when he got rocked pretty good enroute to a TKO4 loss to Shawn Porter, in Brooklyn on April 19 the question has taken on a different tone.

The 33-6 boxer vomited after his match, and went to the hospital and there was some fear his brain has been affected, perhaps beyond the level of a “mere” concussion. Thank fate, his brain imaging tests showed that there was no severe trauma, and so Malignaggi should be good to go, should he choose to glove up again.

So, I asked him, has he made up his mind? Mind you, the issue may (or may not, he is as competitive a person as you will find in the game) be influenced by the fact that the 33-year-old has some solid fallback plan Bs, like his analyst chair at Showtime, and other business interests, including a body shop and some apparel dealings.

“I’m waiting on how things play out this summer, then I will try and make up my mind,” he told me. “Right now, not thinking much about it.”

The boat Paulie is in is crowded; Sergio Martinez too is taking time to reflect, and weigh out the positives and negatives. He took some sharp blows and went to the mat a few times against Miguel Cotto, in his last outing. Both men have a marvelous resume to look at with pride; but the pride of the fighter is a different animal, and the challenge of one more saddle-up always beckons….

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