I boxed Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan but my toughest opponent fractured my orbital bone

Paulie Malignaggi shared the ring with some of the best fighters of his generation, but one stood out above the rest.

During a fruitful professional boxing career spanning over 16 years and 44 fights (36-8), Malignaggi locked horns with the likes of Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan, and Danny Garcia.

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‘The Magic Man’ won world titles at super lightweight and welterweight at the peak of his powers, defeating Lovemore N’dou for the IBF 140lbs belt and Vyacheslav Senchenko for the WBA 147lbs strap.

But before his crowning moments, Malignaggi suffered a crushing setback in his first attempt at a world title when he squared off against Miguel Cotto in 2006.

Cotto was making the sixth defence of his WBO super lightweight title and had blasted away every single challenger inside the distance.

Malignaggi proved he was made of sterner stuff by extending the Puerto Rican puncher over 12 rounds after picking himself up off the canvas in the second stanza.

The Brooklynite suffered a fractured right orbital bone in the ninth round, but dug deep and fought tooth and nail with Cotto until the final bell.

In the end, Cotto’s intensity and work rate proved too great for Malignaggi as he fell to the first defeat of his career via a gruelling unanimous decision.

20 years on from their bout at Madison Square Garden, and Malignaggi is certain Cotto is the best boxer he has ever shared the ring with.

Miguel Cotto had ‘so many layers’

“The best fighter in terms of completeness and my toughest opponent was Miguel Cotto,” Malignaggi told talkSPORT.com.

“He was also the strongest puncher I faced. He was cerebral and very dirty, and that isn’t a knock on him, but he was capable of very dirty tricks.

“He cut off the ring very well; he forced me to fight his fight.”

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While Cotto earned the distinction of being the most complete fighter Malignaggi boxed, he undoubtedly had a more frustrating night against Khan four years later.

Malignaggi was repeatedly beaten to the punch by Khan’s lightning-quick hands and was stopped against the ropes in the 11th round after a sustained beating.

Acknowledging this fact, Malignaggi added: “Stylistically, did I have more of a nightmare with Amir Khan?

“Yes, I did because Khan was a quick, long, lanky guy, and so his boxing was offsetting me.

“So, from a stylistic point of view, Khan was the most difficult style to deal with, but in terms of completeness in the ring, it was Cotto.

“When I was in there, I thought, ‘Wow, he is quality, there are so many layers to this guy’.”