Paulie Malignaggi lands bare-knuckle boxing world title fight after being ‘blinded’ by horror injury
Paulie Malignaggi is gearing up for a blockbuster return to the Trigon, live on talkSPORT.
The 45-year-old turned back the clock to outpoint Tyler Goodjohn in October, after six years out of the ring, and he has now been rewarded with a BKB super welterweight title fight against Rolando Dy (4-1) on May 16 in Manchester.
Malignaggi (1-1) was left temporarily blind in his right eye following five punishing rounds with Goodjohn at Leeds’ Planet Ice Arena.
‘The Magic Man’s’ vision was compromised by an eye poke in the second stanza.
And he admits that his sight still hasn’t completely returned, four months removed from the barnburning bout.
“During the fight, I was seeing a white cloud on my right side, but I thought it was partial vision, I didn’t realise it was completely gone until the end of the fight,” Malignaggi told talkSPORT.com.
“I had blurry vision for a long time; it probably hasn’t come back 100 per cent just yet.
“It’s probably 90 per cent of what it was before, which is better than I expected because I wasn’t expecting much to come back.”
Malignaggi was whisked off to the hospital in the aftermath of his split-decision victory, where he was given a rude introduction to the understaffed and overstretched NHS.
“I’m going to bring my own plastic surgeon to this fight,” added a bemused Malignaggi.
“There is no way I will go to a British hospital again. Not even animals deserve that kind of treatment.
“Look at my eye, there is still a black and blue infection on the bottom of the scar. We are four months on now.
“I waited all night to be stitched up, and it wasn’t even a good job.
“I would expect third-world countries to have that [type of service], but I wouldn’t think England would.
“It was eye-opening in the most shocking way. What is the point in going to the hospital? I’ll just stitch myself up next time.
“They didn’t even have ice for my hands. My hands were swollen, and they didn’t give me ice all night.
“In the US, the first thing they would have done is give me ice bags for my hands.”
In spite of his torrid experience, the two-weight gloved world champion is looking forward to returning to British shores, where he has built up a considerable fan base over the years, owing to his high-profile dust-ups with national heroes Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan.
Malignaggi believes Britain has the best fans in the world, and he intends to give them something to cheer about when he locks horns with four-fight Filipino UFC veteran, Dy, in the spring.
“From a stylistic standpoint, he seems strong; he is obviously capable as a champion, but I’d like to think that my quality is going to be too much for him,” continued Malignaggi.
“I definitely bring a certain versatility to this from my boxing career that I don’t think a lot of guys do.
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t have flaws; I’m still making adjustments to this sport. I have only had two bare-knuckle fights (lost to Artem Lobov in 2019 under the BKFC banner).
“It’s a learning curve. I’m still adjusting how I want to punch and when I want to punch.
“Do I throw single shots? Do I throw combinations? There is a difference in the way you are going to approach a fight with and without gloves, and I’m still navigating it.
“But it’s a good fight, and it’s a really good clash of styles.”
To watch the full event, head over to the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel on May 16.
