Paulie Malignaggi

Paulie Malignaggi

Paulie Malignaggi was nearly apoplectic after losing a controversial decision to Juan Diaz Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. After a terrible performance against Ricky Hatton last year, Brooklyn's Malignaggi redeemed himself with a tactful, hard-fought effort against Diaz that should have earned him a victory -- or at least a moral victory in a close loss. Instead, fighting in Diaz's hometown, Malignaggi dropped a unanimous decision by a wide margin that should call into question the integrity of the judging and further alienate fans from the sport. David Sutherland (116-112), Raul Caiz (115-113) and Gale Van Hoy (118-110) all scored it for Diaz in a junior welterweight bout (at a catch weight of 138.5) for the vacant NABO junior welterweight title.

Malignaggi landed 191 punches to Diaz's 178, according to official punch stats. In his post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman, Malignaggi skewered Houston and its treatment of visiting fighters. "I had to deal with a lot of politics," Malignaggi said, his voice rising with emotion. "That was ridiculous. I knew I was going to have to deal with this…I'm telling you, this state never gives a fair shake to anyone coming to this state to fight hometown fighters. It never happens." When asked about a possible rematch with Diaz, he said: "You know I ain't getting a rematch, this is boxing; boxing is full of [expletive], I used to love this sport. I cannot stand doing this. The only reason I do this is because it gives me a good payday."

The fight was slanted toward Diaz (35-2, 17 knockouts) from the very beginning. Neutral judges were supposed to be installed, but it never happened. Van Hoy is from Texas, Sutherland is from Oklahoma and Caiz is a Mexican-American, sharing the same ethnicity as Diaz. The referee, Laurence Cole, is from Texas, and the ring was of the smaller variety (18 feet), stacking the deck entirely against Malignaggi. But rather than give in to his circumstances, Malignaggi, 28, fought superbly in spots and used his hand-speed to frustrate the hard-charging Diaz. "Paulie is a great fighter," Diaz said. "But I have to thank Houston. I love you. I was falling in with my punches. I have to go back to the gym and work on not falling in." Blood was an early companion to both fighters: Malignaggi (26-3, five knockouts) was cut over his left eye by a right hand in the first round while Diaz was cut over his left eye by an uppercut in the second. Cole, the referee, said that Diaz was cut again over his left eye in the fifth round by a head butt, but it was hard to differentiate the first cut from the second. Diaz fought most of the fight with blood streaming down his face, and Malignaggi seemed to be targeting the cut with right hands.