Paulie Malignaggi lost a controversial decision last night in Houston, and he spoke his mind in the post-fight interview. The jist of which was basically, "boxing is full of shit." Then things got explicit.
The Brooklyn fighter acknowledged that he was facing a stacked deck in the days leading up to the fight against Juan Diaz in Houston. Taking on a popular fighter in his own hometown, Malignaggi faced additional obstacles like a lowered weight limit, a smaller ring, a questionable referee, and most importantly, some serious hometown judging. Malignaggi saved his harshest words for judge Gale Van Hoy.
"118-110 was Gale Van Hoy d*cking it to me. He bent me over and he f*cked me. I said before the fight that this guy never goes against a Texas fighter in the state of Texas. I complained about him and he did it to me on purpose. There is no way that anybody won that fight 118-110. I didn't beat Juan 118-110 and Juan didn't beat me 118-110. Gale Van Hoy filled out his score card and said 'let me f*ck Paulie Malignaggi' because he talked sh*t."
Having seen the fight it's pretty easy to understand why the Magic Man is so pissed off. That scorecard in particular was absurd—and an insult to the sport—while the decision itself was questionable. Malignaggi went on to express his concerns on the state of boxing as a whole as they relate to last night's decision.
Boxing has no f*cking integrity left. It's been happening for years. That's why this sport has no popularity left. That's why nobody watches this sh*t because every year there are decision like this and probably even worse than this. I don't really know how close this fight was. People get f*cked constantly. Nobody watches boxing anymore because of sh*t like this.
Those of course are the most damaging words of all. Those, and not the criticisms of the judge, are what will resonate with boxing enthusiasts and those within the sport itself.