14 years ago today: Paolo "Paulie/The Magic Man" Malignaggi vs. Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry

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*sigh*...alright...let's have a crack at this. (since the original RBR thread, whoever made it, has fallen into the black void that swallows up all old content from the back-end on this forum to keep everything under a certain data cap. Go and have a look; there used to be threads and posts dating all the way to when the last great crash happened in 2004, but now the oldest it goes is June 2007, a few months after this fight).

I watched this when it happened and probably posted in that RBR thread, but here will be my scorecard for posterity since the original (if I even posted one) is forever lost.

 

Paolo Malignaggi vs. Edner Cherry, 10 rounds @ light welterweight

 

Heading in, this wasn't the gimme it may seem now with the benefit of hindsight. Malignaggi was making his comeback directly off being mangled for twelve rounds by ascending star Miguel Cotto, while Cherry was on a red-hot streak having recently headlined ESPN2 FNF to pop the cherry (pardon ) of Northeast prospect Monty Meza Clay.

 

Round 1

Malignaggi starts floating around the ring and dishing out pot shot jabs. Cherry attempts to march him down, knifing the front left hip with a down-jab and then reaching over with a long harpooning right on the chest, but Malignaggi is able to slip and shimmy around the shots, countering with quick needling combos.

10-9 Malignaggi

 

Round 2

Malignaggi pushing forward, jabbing the abdomen of Cherry to prod him back an involuntary step and then snapping a quick yo-yo double jab into the nose to forestall Cherry marching in and retaliating. Cherry doing a lot of waiting and posing, earmuffs up and galloping in a couple of steps at once to pursue as Malignaggi flits on his toes and snipes at him with long casual lobs.

10-9 Malignaggi

20-18 Malignaggi

 

Round 3

Malignaggi has the slide-stepping and jabbing rhythm dialed in now, and is getting comfortable rolling fist over fist at his groin and throwing ambush shots from down by his knees to dissuade Cherry, showboating a little. Cherry is doing a responsible job defending up top, picking off most of Malignaggi's head jabs, but the looping right is able to arc past his forearms to bang into his left temple and Malignaggi continues tattooing his belly with the duck-in jab while constantly moving.

10-9 Malignaggi

30-27 Malignaggi

 

Stats after three are baffling:

Malignaggi 49 of 172, 28%
Cherry 39 of 136, 29%

I guess Compubox fam (a father and son team in those days, idk whether that is still the case) had been drinking copiously during the undercard.

Zero chance that Cherry was landing a higher percentage, or connected on just ten less than Malignaggi total.

 

Harold Lederman (...) has it 30-27 Malignaggi.

He's roasting Buddy McGirt for asking Malignaggi for a left hook to get Cherry's respect, which Lederman correctly observes is something Paulie has no intention of obeying, since what he's doing - riding with the jab - is working)

Spoiler alert: the McGirt and Malignaggi pairing would later be acknowledged as disastrous by both parties. Just a bad fit in terms of chemistry and fight philosophy/strategy.

 

Round 4

Malignaggi has the range worked out and is pulling away with full body flinches only to snap back with pinpoint accurate but light counters with either hand to head and body. Cherry to his credit is walking through some fire and touching Malignaggi with greater volume, strapping his jaw with a cheek in the middle of the round and piping a right in just under his nose at its end.

10-9 Malignaggi, closer but no cigar

40-36 Malignaggi

 

A couple of The Contender alumni fought on the HBO BAD undercard, but with poor results. Season 1's Ishé Smith lost to Sechew Powell and Nito Bravo was KO1ed by a young prospect named Andre Berto..

 

Round 5

Malignaggi keeping the jab in Cherry's face and prodding his navel with it by turn, but throwing little besides it. The commentators observe that he may have injured the right hand in the last couple of rounds, and Lennox Lewis admonishes him for not offering a little more variety with the left, askin for hooks and uppercuts. Cherry, however, isn't making any inroads even with Malignaggi reducing himself to a single weapon. Cherry looking lackadaisical in his pressure now, barely punching, taking on a light spar feel.

10-9 Malignaggi

50-45 Malignaggi

 

Round 6

Cherry is having some increased success now after receiving a stern pep talk from his annoyed coach. A bref switch to southpaw allows him to cut his way inside and land some body shots on Malignaggi. Cherry, reverting to his orthodox stance, is thrusting his own left jab past Malignaggi's but neither is scoring cleanly as Cherry leans backs and claps his gloves together to trap Malignaggi and the Sicilian-American gives a quick yank of his neck to slip the Bahamian's.

10-9 Malignaggi, close

60-54 Malignaggi

 

Lederman has it 60-54 Malignaggi.

 

Round 7

Malignaggi rattles off combos off the jab, but the right hand is more just meant to brace himself and remain squared up head-on to land more left jabs; he isn't really turning it over with any mean intent. Cherry for his part is mostly keeping up a shell and waiting, until trotting in behind a for-show jab and hacking down in spurts with the right from its fixed defensive position glued high up on his scalp.

10-9 Malignaggi

70-63 Malignaggi

 

Cherry's corner telling him to start going for broke and load up on the left hook to rut around for a come from behind KO.