Thursday, July 22, 2010
After 10 years together, former junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi and promoter Lou DiBella are parting ways. With tension between them mounting and Malignaggi and DiBella not seeing eye-to-eye on the direction the fighter's career should take, Malignaggi will become a free agent after agreeing to buy out the remainder of his promotional agreement for $75,000. "It was a good run," said Malignaggi, who is coming off an 11th-round knockout loss to junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan on May 15. "I've had my ups and downs with DiBella Entertainment, but in the end you want to finish your relationship having made money and I did that. No hard feelings. There were some things we disagreed on, so it's probably better to part amicably so the relationship remains. If we remained together, we'd probably end up hating each other and neither of us wanted that. So the best thing to do is part ways and remain friends. But it's not like I'm just walking away. I'm paying $75,000 to get out of the deal. I think it's the best-case scenario for both parties." DiBella, said "When I met Paulie he was a 19-year-old kid. Now he's close to being a 30-year-old man. So there's a different dynamic, like in a family almost. I guess he feels it's time to take it in another direction. I can respect that."