New York- There won’t be any holiday cheer for Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (23-1, 5 KO’s) or Herman Ngoudjo (16-1, 9 KO’s) this year. Malignaggi will defend his IBF Junior Welterweight title against Ngoudjo on Saturday January 5th at Bally’s Main Ballroom in Atlantic City LIVE on Showtime Championship Boxing with coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Malignaggi is back at home in Brooklyn after a month and a half of training in Vero Beach, Florida with his renowned trainer Buddy McGirt. “Everything is in tip top form,” said the Brooklyn native. “I have the best training tandem in boxing with Buddy McGirt and Orlando Carrasquillo. They have prepared me well for my previous fights and this fight will be no different. The sparring I faced was outstanding and Ngoudjo better know he will be facing the best in the world on January 5th. Ngoudjo said last week that everyone will know who he is after the fight. I say come January 6th, no one will be even thinking about Ngoudjo. They will be talking and buzzing about the best in the world, Paulie Malignaggi.”
Ngoudjo, the Cameroon native who now lives in Montreal stayed home for his training camp as he prepared both physically and mentally for the lightning fast Malignaggi. “Training camp was perfect. I was able to focus completely on Paulie. The sparring I got was terrific and it will show in the ring in Atlantic City,” said Ngoudjo. The skilled boxer was “happy to be able to train at home in Montreal. The fans are all behind me, just as ready to go as I am. Many will travel with me down to Atlantic City. Training camp is a lot of hard work but these fans have made all of it worthwhile. I am ready to go for 2008 and will get the year started off right by beating Paulie. Malignaggi won’t know what hit him on January 5th.”
Malignaggi last fought at Mohegan Sun on June 16 where he scored a 12-round unanimous decision over Lovemore Ndou (45-9-1, 30 KO’s) to win the IBF Junior Welterweight Title. Ngoudjo most recently defeated Randall Bailey (35-6, 32 KO’s) to earn the mandatory shot against Malignaggi. The Montreal resident lost an extremely controversial split decision to Jose Luis Castillo in January 2007.
Tickets priced at $250 and $125 are now on sale and can be purchased at the Bally’s Box Office, by calling DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577, Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
