Paulie Malignaggi reveals someone stole his amazing gift from Ricky Hatton… ‘I never saw it again’

EXCLUSIVE: Paulie Malignaggi is dedicating his fight at BKB 47 to the legendary Ricky Hatton.

At one point in time, the two combat sports icons were ferocious rivals, with the fearsome Mancunian and the slick New Yorker coming together to deliver a monumental event for the fans.

However, while heading into their contest, they were both desperate to prove themselves as the best light welterweight on the planet, thanks to the Englishman’s charisma, even a trash talker like ‘The Magic Man’ found himself developing a fondness towards his foe.

Ricky Hatton made Paulie Malignaggi an epic gift

On Saturday evening, Paulie Malignaggi will embark on his journey to becoming a two-sport world champion when he battles it out with Tyler Goodjohn at Planet Ice in Leeds, UK.

And he isn’t just fighting for himself, but his opponent-turned-friend Ricky Hatton, who tragically lost his life last month.

Prior to their spectacular encounter at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, which the Brit won via 11th-round stoppage, the pair marinated their feud by facing separate opponents on the same card at the City of Manchester Stadium.

During his bout, the Brooklynite’s dreadlocks caused him so much trouble that his cornerman had to cut them off. Showcasing their humour, Hatton and his team gathered up the hair to make his adversary a fantastic gift. Alas, the recipient of the present didn’t have it in his possession for very long.

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, Malignaggi explained: “I remember the press conference we had. They had made me a terrific frame, pictures from my fight a few months prior at the Etihad, with my hair from the fight with Lovemore N’dou. There were cutouts of my hair. I guess the ring-cleaner had picked up the hair, and somehow, Ricky’s team had gotten a hold of it, and some of my dreadlocks were in this frame.

“Someone stole it. It was a whole mess of a press conference. I just assumed somebody on my team was going to make sure they have a hold of that frame. I never got the frame back. I had my manager call Paul Speak. Somebody left the press conference with that frame. It is in somebody’s house to this day, and they will never come forward. I never saw it again.”

Paulie Malignaggi went to watch a football match with Ricky Hatton ahead of their fight

While most boxers wouldn’t dream of going on a social outing with an upcoming opponent, in a testament to his character, Hatton had no issue with forming a bond with his rivals.

Malignaggi reminisced: “I’m a huge football fan; football is my first sport as far as being a fan. They got me tickets to Manchester United vs Villareal, and Villareal at the time had Giuseppe Rossi playing for them, he was an Italian-American who played for the Italian national team.

“We went together, and Ricky’s a City fan. But it was United playing in the Champions League, so our teams went together. I was, at that point in my career, somebody who was easy to dislike when you fought me, I was a very irritating person on purpose because of my marketing.

“It was hard to make myself unlikeable to Ricky, I’m sure I did in some ways, but his team was so cool and enjoyable to be around. He’s one of the rare people in boxing that I could’ve probably been friends with outside of boxing if I had not met him through boxing. We had similar tastes, qualities, backgrounds and mindsets where everything is not perfect but you believe in a certain standard.”

Featured Image Credit: BKB