Paulie Malignaggi:  A six month layoff was never good for me.  I thought I could look better.  The hand was good until the later rounds.  I tried to find to opening for the uppercut, and when I found the opening my knuckle started hurting.  My hand is okay, because I only landed it two times while it was hurt.

Q:  You didn't use the right a lot.

PM:  I didn't use it a lot, because the way he was hitting was throwing me off.  I thought he was going to be more aggressive, so I was holding back.  I was wondering what he was doing, he wasn't coming at me, so I didn't know what to do.

Q:  How hurt were you in the 6th round?

PM:  I knew what was going on, but my legs were not so good. My legs were tired.  I knew everything that was going on, so I just stayed tight.  I made him come forward at me, while I held tight, and made him think I wasn't as hurt as I was.  He buzzed me, I knew everything that was going on, but he buzzed me.  Did it look bad?

Q:  It did look bad, you looked hurt.  Did you do anything different to prepare for this fight?

PM:  I was going to the gym.  I was looking sharp in the gym. I dropped one guy I was sparring with bodyshots.  If this guy was as aggressive as I thought he'd be, I would have walked him into something.  At the end of the day, he wasn't aggressive, I thought now I'm not going to be able to use all this stuff we've worked on in the gym.  I got a little anxious.  Getting anxious caused me to get hit with some dumb punches.  Only when you're yourself do you look your best.  I tried to come out of my shell a little bit this time.

Q:  Did you ever think you were behind on the scorecards at all?

PM:  Never, I thought some rounds were close, I never thought I was behind.  I thought I won the fight by 9 rounds.

Q:  You had success with the jab early, later on it kind of got away from you.  What happened?

PM:  I was looking for something that wasn't there.  I was maybe, in the middle rounds thinking if I didn't throw the jab maybe he would come forward.  He's not the quickest guy or the sharpest in the game, but he's got a rhythym that makes you miss.

Q:  Are you still interested in the Hatton fight?

PM:  I'm still interested in the Hatton fight, I've just got to stay busy.  I've got to keep myself sharp, and I can deal with Hatton.

Q:  What would you do different in your performance tonight?

PM:  I'm not going to say I was in there with a veteran, because I've had more fights than he has, but I was in there with a tricky guy.  It was a good learning experience for me.  I do best when guys come at me, stylistically the Ricky Hatton fight is always a better fight in the eye of the public.  I take from this fight 12 rounds of experience,my first title defense is over.

Q:  What makes you a special fighter is you can outbox guys.  Would you be comfortable fighting Hatton in England with English judges?

PM:  I don't know about that, but at the same time, I think that Ricky Hatton needs me at this I think I'm the biggest name out there right now at 140 for Ricky Hatton.  I think I could tell him he's had enough free rides, so bring it over here now.

Q:  If you can't get Ricky Hatton, who else are you looking to fight?

PM:  There are a lot of good names out there coming up in the junior welterweight division.  There can be a lot of fights made, I'm not going to name any names.

Q:  What happened in the middle rounds?

PM:  In the middle rounds I couldn't find a range for my uppercuts.  I don't know how to say it right.  My foot stepped forward and it was weird, I kept coming up short.  At the end of the day, my jab controlled the rounds.  I found myself being able to steal rounds.

Q:  It's your first title defense, how does it feel?

PM:  It feels good, but I thought I could have looked much better.  You guys know me, I was last in the ring 6 months ago.  I was determined 6 months ago.  With this fight, and all the Hatton talk, with me thinking this guy was going to be more aggressive, he talked a good game.  I thought he was going to come in here trying to kill me, but he fought smart and it threw me off.  Not to make excuses, I'm not one to make excuses, it was a good learning experience.

M

Send questions and comments to: boxingtalk@gmail.com