Mike Michael, advisor to junior welterweight Mike Arnaoutis writes:

“I just read on BoxingTalk.net that Johnny Bos wants his boy Paul Malignaggi to get in with Juan Urango.  This is Johnny’s idea of a 'step up' fight for his kid, to throw him in with a guy that we just beat. [editor's note: actually, Arnoutis fought Urango to a draw on August 5, 2004]  Who’s going to buy that kind of garbage?  I spoke with Socrates Palmer from Boxingtalk just the other day and I told him what I thought of Malignaggi, and this clown and his manager have just fanned the flames."


“The fact is, we exposed Juan Urango.  We got in with him when everyone thought he was invincible, and we proved that a good boxer can take him apart.  Now, Paulie is a good boxer.  Not half as good as Mighty Mike, but pretty good at doing what he does.   So they’re going to “step him up” against a guy that my guy exposed two months ago?  Well, hold on while I congratulate him, because if Johnny can sell that line of crap then he can sell anything.  And he says he thinks Urango won?  Showtime had us up by three points, most if not all of the boxing press had us ahead, and he thinks Urango won?   That’s crap.  He sees an easy mark, a guy who’s already been exposed, and he’s chasing it.  And we’re the ones that put the work in, we’re the ones that did the difficult job, because we’re the ones that exposed him in the first place.   Malignaggi’s got 18 fights, my boy Mighty Mike has 12 fights, and he’s chasing our leftovers.  He’s chasing for his 20th fight, because he’s going to squeeze one more stiff in there for number 19 according to Johnny, a guy that my kid took apart in his 12th fight.   This Casamonica kid that Johnny says is another “step up,” by the way, is a lightweight who’s never fought outside of Europe.  I’ll say it again, he’s a lightweight, he’s 34 years old and he’s never been out of Europe.  So Malignaggi’s two big “step up” fights are this clown Casamonica and a kid that we already took apart.  What a warrior this Malignaggi must be to take on such challenging opposition." 

“On October 22, we’re fighting a kid named Jesse Feliciano, who’s another tough kid that Johnny Bos wouldn’t let his kid fight.  He won’t fight us, he won’t fight Al Gonzales, he won’t fight Feliciano, won’t fight Oscar Diaz, but he’ll fight Rocky Martinez and a kid we already took apart.   And that’s “climbing up the ladder?”  What ladder is this?  And still, after 18 fights, nobody has any idea if this kid Malignaggi has any kind of chin or even a pair of balls on him.  Everyone knows what kind of chin my kid has.  Everyone knows my kid Mighty Mike has a set of balls.  We’ll fight Oscar Diaz if Johnny is scared for his kid.  We’ll fight Diaz, and we’ll beat him too.  Because unlike Johnny Bos and Malignaggi, I know my kid has the balls to step up and make a real fight.

“Hopefully the boxing fans can see through this garbage and realize that this is a kid trying to create his own ladder to climb that avoids any real fights.  I’ll stop talking for now and let the fans decide who deserves to be called a “top prospect.”  Is it guys like Malignaggi and Salita that can barely fight, and that claim to be stepping up but never do, or is it guys like my kid Mighty Mike Arnaoutis, who was developed properly and is now really stepping up and fighting the guys that no one else wants to fight until after we take them to school?  Let the fans decide who the real prospects are.”