Patrick Doljanin Blasts Paul Malignaggi

By Jose "OnFire" Aguirre

08/09/2004

Patrick Doljanin Blasts Paul Malignaggi

"Either fight or shut your pasta sucking pie-hole."

Jose Aguirre: First things first, what's going on with Al "Speedy" Gonzalez?

Patrick Doljanin: Al Gonzalez is fighting this Friday. It's a co-main event on Telemundo. It should be subtitled as a nightmare because we've had and I kid you not, we've had at least two dozen fighters not want the fight for one reason or another. Anywhere from not interested to real excuses like injuries, haven't been in the gym long enough, pay is not enough, etc. Those are the main things. We've had names you would recognize, Miguel Figueroa turned it down. There were a couple of undefeated guys, a guy that turned it down was like 11-0. Isaac Mendoza, he turned it down. he's another undefeated guy."

JA: How does Al feel and you as his manager and trainer, how do you guys feel when fights like this fall through and guys down want to step up to the plate and fight Gonzalez?

PD: "It's frustrating for us. Al's been out in California working with Jessie Reid He's been getting phenomenal sparring and he's going to be in better shape for this fight then he was for the Hopkins fight. And he's not fighting anybody who's as good as Demetrius. The funny thing about Al is he is not a talker, that's why I'm talking to you. Al's not a talker. He's the opposite of Malignaggi. He's a quiet guy that minds his own business and lets his fist do the talking. He thinks Malignaggi is a joke. Malignaggi has made references to him and Bojado and other people again and again but he doesn't step up and fight anybody. Personally we don't really care one way or the other if we ever fought this guy. If that's the case then shut up. Especially if you're not interested in fighting him. This guy (Malignaggi) changes his story more than a politician. I said ONLY...give me a fucking break. Bernard Hopkins lost his first fight. You can't tell me you're not going to fight a guy because he's got a loss. He fought Jessie Feliciano and Demetrius Hopkins, two tough, legitimate, accomplished young guns within a four month period. Malignaggi has not done anything close to that. That's my point. He can sit and drop names left and right but you either put up or shut up. He's said on Boxingtalk, to Ray, that he was going to host Al's retirement party and this and that. Kind of banged on him for the Hopkins fight. That Hopkins fight, if anything, it boosted Al's credibility more than it boosted Demetrius'. Everybody thought that Demetrius was going to blow him away. For us it was very disappointing and it was kind of like, in the email I sent you, like getting the game called in the third quarter or seventh inning. There was still alot of fight left and if you look at thier physical condition Hopkins was spent from all that running and shit that he was doing. Al wasn't even taking water at the end of the seventh round. I would have not been surprised if Hopkins would have went down or just would have got the shot beat out of him for those last three rounds because that's where Al wanted him at that point. To push him, to test his heart, push his lungs to see where he was at from a conditioning standpoint."

JA: Speaking of the Gonzalez-Demetrius fight, what was Gonzalez' feeling of the fight and the way it ended?

PD: "Like all of us, he was extremely disappointed and that's why when Hopkins came over at the end of the fight he said "get away from me". We're not done. If you've seen any of Al's other fights, particularly the Johnny West fight where the cut was far worst, his jaw was broken in the first round and he went on to win that fight. Even dominated that fight with those physical setbacks. There is no reason that fight should have been stopped and we gave our cut man his walking papers as a result of that because once again, it was his advice that stopped the fight. Jessie Reid is the only person in the corner who had the authority to stop the fight. Especially where we were at. The fight, at least from our perspective, was very close."

JA: As we both know Paul Malignaggi said he would fight Gonzalez ONLY if he stayed undefeated until after he Beat Cano. What do you make of this, him emphasizing the ONLY in there and what's your take on this overall?

PD: "He's a bullshit politician is what it is. They guy has more excuses and more lines than Mark Twaine. We don't care if we fight him or not. There's always an excuse with this guy. I won't fight him in Chicago. He won't fight outside of Chicago. Bottom line, Gonzalez will fight him anywhere. In his backyard, in his kitchen, in Lou DiBella's office if it makes him feel better. He does not have the heart nor the ability to deal with somebody like Gonzalez. Gonzalez will absolutely dismantle him as well as anybody else. The aforementioned Demetrius Hopkins, Jessie Feliciano, so on and so forth. There are alot of young guys out there. Bojado, even though he lost to Jesse James. I mean, Jesse James would annihilate and stop Paul Malignaggi. The guy has to realize he is where he is for one thing and one thing only and that Lou DiBella(laughs). If he wasn't with Lou DiBella he would be nowhere and that's because the guy just doesn't have the skills. He's got one of the best promoters backing him up. He has a matchmaker who is very careful about not putting him in against anybody who's a risk. he loves to talk but he sure doesn't want the fight."

JA: You mentioned that Gonzalez has faced the better competition. Tell us your feelings about that.

PD: "The record speaks for itself. I know that Malignaggi and his people like to spin numbers and crunch numbers different ways. Bottom line is Gonzalez fought Jessie Feliciano who annihilated three or four undefeated fighters prior to fighting Al. One of them being Freddie Cadena. He ended Freddie Cadena's career. Al fought him and walked out of the pretty much unscathed with a draw. he fought Hopkins four month later. Those are two of the best guys at the heart of the fourty pound class. Who has Paul Malignaggi fought? He fought Rocky Martinez, a guy who won't even fight Al Gonzalez. A guy who before his fight with Malignaggi lost to Rashan Blackburn who's 7-25. He won a majority decision which means one of those judges scored that fight a draw. Seven and twenty-five. That's the level of competition Malignaggi is facing. Guys who are coming off a majority decision against people who are seven and twenty-five. Cano, completely over-rated and fabricated almost as much as Malignaggi himself. One of his loses was to a guy who's been kncoked out seven times. Two of them were first round knockouts to Kelson Pinto and Francisco Bojado. The level of competition is clearly documentated and he can talk about who he isn't going to fight. And that's all we hear about is who's he's not going fight. He's real clear about he won't fight him, he won't fight Dimitriy Salita, he won't fight this guy, he won't fight that guy. he is the second coming of Hector Camacho Jr. without a doubt he is the Italian version."

JA: Team Gonzalez, subtracting Paul Malignaggi, what are your plans and where do you go from here after Friday's fight on Telemundo?

PD: "You never want to jinx yourself. You never want to overlook anything but lets just say everything goes according to plan. There's no cuts, no butts, no cuts. We want Cortney Burton. BIG time. He's not that far away. I would be more than happy to drive out to Benton Harbor and drive him back to Indiana or Chicago or whatever we ant to fight. He really is just a couple of hours away from me. That's the guy we want. Oscar Diaz would be another guy. There's been some interest from the Duva camp on putting these two guys together. That would be an intertaining fight. It would be a great tv fight for Telefuturo. Excellent tv fight because of the styles of both fighters. It will be pier six material, there is no question."

JA: Going back to an interview that Paul Malignaggi did with Boxingtalk.com where he said he was going to, I'm not sure if he said hit you or smack you. What are your thoughts on that?

PD: (laughing) "He said he was getting aggravated with some of things I had been saying and that if I didn't watch out I was going to get hit. I threw in the getting smacked by his purse (pocketbook) because I'm sure that what he was refering too, was that he was going to hit me with his purse. And if that's the way he wants to play it I'll put some Nair in his dippity-do (laughs hard) or take the hem out of his dress, one of the two."

JA: We've been speaking generally in terms of Paul Malignaggi. If there is anything that you want to say to him what would it be?

PD:"It would just be either put up or shut up. Fights are not won by talking, they're won by fighting. He's got a great way of bringing in names of real fighters like Bojado and Gonzalez to buttress his legitimacy as a fighter but the bottom line is either fight or shut your pasta sucking pie-hole."

JA: Is there anything you want to say to the fans and the readers of Boxingtalk.com in regards to Al Gonzalez or your team?

PD:"A big shoutout if I may to Boxingtalk.com. You guys are great. One of the best if not THE best boxing website and we appreciate it. Given the fact that the mainstream press doesn't give boxing alot of coverage it makes websites like Boxingtalk that much more valuable to the young fighters who are on thier way up and the boxing public in general."

JA: Thanks and Good luck to you and your team in Friday's fight.

PD:"You bet. Thanks alot. I appreciate the time."

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