Photo by Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME
“Boxing Gave Me Things I Couldn’t imagine. Boxing Let Me Dream. That’s What I’m Fighting For: That Chance To Dream Again.”
Veteran boxer, he toa mua rua-wehenga ao, Paulie Malignaggi pens an open letter to the sport of boxing as the Magic Man prepares to step into the ring once more on Saturday night.
Malignaggi (35-7, 7 Koó) will face Gabriel Bracero in a 10-round welterweight bout between fellow Brooklynite in the SHOWTIME EXTREME® main event tomorrow, Saturday live at 7 p.m. AND/PT from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y..
Malignaggi explains in the letter why he keeps on climbing into the ring: “I know fighters don’t age gracefully,” he says. “I know fighters get hurt. But I also know in my heart, I gotta fight. At least one more time. Aha? I’ll tell you why: Love.”
After his bout, Malignaggi, also a SHOWTIME Sports® boxing analyst, plans to join the announce team and call the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® tripleheader featuring featherweight world champion Leo Santa Cruz defending against N. Ireland’s Carl Frampton and the return of undefeated and former two-division champion Mikey Garcia facing ex-champion Elio Rojas, ora i runga iSHOWTIME® (9 p.m. AND/6 p.m. PT).