Paulie in East LA

By David A. Avila

EAST LOS ANGELES-Standing in the heart of East Los Angeles the Brooklyn prizefighter Paul “The Magic Man” Malignaggi looks quite comfortable though he’s 3,000 miles away from home and it’s his first visit to the boxing crazy town.

“It’s a lot like Brooklyn,” Malignaggi says during a hot Saturday afternoon on Whittier Boulevard in the heart of East L.A.

Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KOs) has made the West Coast his home away from home and has no hesitation about proving it against Mexico’s Orlando Lora (28-1-1, 19 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 15. The Brooklyn speedster will show his welterweight skills at the Staples Center. HBO pay-per-view will televise.

Ever since signing with Golden Boy Promotions the former junior welterweight world champion has made the transition to a heavier weight class a seamless one. A knockout over Michael Lozada and a solid win over Jose Miguel Cotto proved that the extra seven pounds were not a detriment to his abilities.

Now Malignaggi fights a Mexican-born fighter in Los Angeles. You can bet most of the crowd will be shouting for the green, white and red flag of Mexico. Not the green, white and red flag of Italy.

“Culturally we share a lot of things,” said Malignaggi, 30, who was born in Sicily, Italy and is a first generation immigrant who speaks Italian, Spanish and English. “Mexicans are like the Italian fighters in the 40s and 50s. They’re tough and eager to box because there are not a lot of options out there. When I came to the United States there were not a lot of options for me too.”

The move to Southern California has created even more options for the Brooklyn prizefighter including a possible spot on a welterweight tournament being proposed by Golden Boy Promotions.

“Paul Malignaggi could be one of the considerations for the tournament,” said Richard Schaefer who added that he’s still investigating all possible candidates for a four-man welterweight scramble. “We have a lot of good fighters to take a look at.”

One recent addition to the Golden Boy stable is Devon Alexander another former junior welterweight world champion who engaged in a war of words with Malignaggi via Twitter recently. During the press announcement in Las Vegas a reporter asked if a fight between them would transpire?

Alexander answered by saying he only wanted to fight “top contenders.”

Sitting in the audience Malignaggi fired back “last time I saw most people thought you lost your last three fights!”

The crowd oohed at that quick put down. Alexander had nothing more to say.

What Malignaggi lacks in pure firepower in the ring he more than makes up with pure intelligence. Add a fighter’s heart and you’ve got a prizefighter who is very difficult to beat because he’s not going to quit. Much like the Mexican fighters that dominate the boxing world.

“I’ve been able to out-fox, out-think fighters that had all of the tools but not the thinking capacity,” said Malignaggi who believes that beating an opponent mentally is a vastly understated weapon. “

Mexico’s Lora, 30, has been fighting as a welterweight for the past six years and recently fought in the junior middleweight division. The Culiacan native’s only loss was to Chicago’s David Estrada in 2010.

Malignaggi knows it’s all about winning and earning a bigger paycheck.

“I chose this profession because there weren’t many options,” said Malignaggi who began boxing at 16. “That’s why there are a lot of Mexicans in boxing because there aren’t many options.”

Though Malignaggi signed with California-based Golden Boy over a year ago, on Saturday Oct. 15, will be his first prizefight in the Mexican dominated town.

“There are a lot of similarities between Italians and Mexicans. Italians dominate the East Coast and Mexicans dominate the West,” said Malignaggi. “I feel comfortable here.”

While talking on the sidewalks of East Los Angeles with cars buzzing by the Brooklyn native took a slow look around and said “I could see myself living here.”

Sometimes you can find a home away from home.

Fights on television

Fri. Comcast, Sportsnet, 6 p.m., Osumanu Adama (19-2) vs. Roman Karmazin (40-4-2).

Fri. Showtime, 11 p.m., Sharif Bogere (20-0) vs. Francisco Contreras (16-0).