Malignaggi and the Art of the Clinch

Paulie Malignaggi is not a boring fighter by any means.

As evident in his bout with Lovemore N'dou recently on HBO's Boxing After Dark, he throws as many, if not more, meaningful jabs than anyone else in boxing. He drops plenty of
combinations from the outside, unlike Andre 'Smoke Gainer Jr.' Dirrell (who looked more like a leading contestant for Fox's 'So You Think You Can Dance?' than a professional boxer in his co-feature bout against Curtis Stevens). Hell, ever since he got humbled by Cotto, Paulie's even a likeable character outside the ring. I wish all athletes were as honest and insightful as he was in the post-fight interview.

But nothing grinds my gears more than a fighter who gets away with having no inside game by bending the rules. Every time his opponent gets inside, he bends down and grabs him by the waist. And last I checked, excessive clinching was an infraction. This has never been cleareer than it was last Saturday night, and given that 1) N'dou does his best work on the inside, 2) N'dou couldn't find his way around a jab with mapquest, and 3) Eddie Cotton (the referee) was breaking up clinches before they even started, poor Lovemore didn't have a chance.

I suppose this is nothing new. Most boxers - even the greats - will resort to grappling when things get too heated in close quarters. Bernard Hopkins is one of my favorite fighters, but I'll admit that clinching has become more and more integral to his fight strategies as he's gotten older. Even the great Muhammad Ali employed it when convenient (Frazier II).

The difference is, these men didn't make their careers off of avoiding inside conflict through clever clinching techniques. For once I'd like to see a referee call him on it.