Paulie, as he is affectionately known, was born in Brooklyn, December 23, 1980, but moved to Siracusa, Sicily, when he was a few months old. He stayed in Sicily until he was six. When his family moved back to America, Malignaggi only spoke Italian, but picked up the English language quickly. When he was 16, Malignaggi was thrown out of high school. He was living with his grandparents at the time, and his grandfather took him to the gym to see if it would keep Paulie out of trouble.

"I ended up loving the gym and have been there ever since." Malignaggi said. "I still remember my first day there. It was June 26, 1997."

As an amateur, Malignaggi won the 1998 and 2001 New York Golden Gloves Amateur Championship, as well as the 2001 United States National Amateur Championship. Malignaggi also won the 2001 Everlast U.S. Championships on March 13-17, 2001 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The "Magic Man" made his professional debut at age 20 on July 7, 2001, and scored a first-round knockout over Thadeus Parker in Brooklyn. He won four more professional fights before his rookie campaign came to an end, including two by knockout. In 2002, Malignaggi went seven-for-seven in the ring, including a second-round TKO over Anthony Simpkins on Aug. 30 in New York City.

He finished 2002 by defeating Paul Delgado across eight rounds on Nov 23 in Atlantic City. Despite tearing the ligaments in his right hand during the fight, Malignaggi won the split decision 78-74, 79-73 and 75-77.

Malignaggi did not fight for nearly seven months. However, when he returned on June 3, 2003, in Uncasville, Conn., the unbeaten boxer won a six-round unanimous decision over Shad Howard. Malignaggi sent Howard to the canvas in the third round and won by the scores 60-52 (twice), 60-53.

Less than two months later on Aug 1, 2003, Malignaggi entered the ring against Kevin Watts in Red Sox country waving a New York Yankees flag with a Yankees emblem sewn on his trunks. Despite the unfriendly surroundings, Malignaggi scored a sixth-round TKO in Hampton Beach, N.H. The "Magic Man" dominated the fight by maintaining a busier pace and landing sharper punches. After scoring two knockdowns in the sixth round, the referee stopped the contest. Malignaggi put Watts flat on his back for the initial time with a series of right hands. The decisive knockdown came as Watts stuck his tongue out at Malignaggi. The Yankees fan promptly landed two right hands that had Watts flat on his face. "I am a Yankees fan," Malignaggi said afterward. "I knew I was going to be hated. Watts' fans were booing me. All his fans came up from Boston."

On Oct 24, 2003, Malignaggi fought closer to home in Bronx, N.Y., and earned an eight-round unanimous decision over Jesus Santiago. Malignaggi finished strongly in the last two rounds, and won by scores 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75.

Malignaggi completed a third consecutive perfect campaign on Dec 6, 2003, with an eight-round unanimous decision over Delgado on the Vitali Klitschko-Kirk Johnson undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York. Despite injuring his right hand again, Malignaggi won by the scores 80-72, 79-73 (twice). "With the first right hand I threw in the eighth, I hurt my hand and basically just danced with Delgado for the remainder of the round," Malignaggi said.

Malignaggi then tallied a 10-round unanimous decision over a game, but outgunned Rocky Martinez on April 22, 2004, in New York. From the outset, Martinez had no real answer for Malignaggi's speed. The up-and-coming New Yorker easily won the first and second rounds with a crisp, quick jab and decent combinations to the body. Martinez' nose began to bleed in the seventh, and worsened in the eighth. Malignaggi took the last two rounds en route to nearly shutting out Martinez. The judges scored the bout 99-91 (twice) and 98-92.

Ramiro Cano, Sandro Casamonica, Jeremy Yeltona and Donald Camarena all were defeated at the hands of the Magic Man, but on June 10, 2006, Paul Malignaggi faced the 25 year old, undefeated Junior Welterweight, Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden. Malignaggi was down in the 2nd round and lost in a gruelling 12 round contest resulting in a unanimous decision against Cotto and was left with a swollen right cheek bone, a bleeding nose, and a cut around the left eye. Malignaggi, with his first loss, took it well. He was asked if there was to be a rematch with Cotto, and he stated that he would fight him again after he had had a few more matches if Cotto didn't go up in the weight. Malignaggi gained a lot of respect in this fight, he showed character and heart, in a fight that many thought would be extremely one sided.

On February 17, 2007, Malignaggi headlined HBO's World Boxing at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. In his first fight back after his courageous battle against Miguel Cotto, Malignaggi scored a unanimous decision against the tough Edner Cherry. Malignaggi proved to fans that he was back on track to winning a world title.

On June 16 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, Malignaggi put on the best performance of his career, defeating Lovemore N'dou and capturing the IBF Junior Welterweight title on HBO's Boxing After Dark series. The "Magic Man" set the tone early, snapping stiff left jabs followed by lightning quick combinations. The flurries of punches took a toll on N'dou and in round 9 he was dropped to the canvas by a straight right from Malignaggi. Malignaggi dominated from opening to closing bell to score a decisive, unanimous decision victory. In winning his first world title Malignaggi showed that speed does indeed kill.

On January 5, 2008 at Bally's Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, Malignaggi successfully defended his IBF Junior Welterweight Title winning a unanimous 12-round decision over the very tough and talented Herman Ngoudjo (16-2, 9 KO's).

Next up for Malignaggi on May 24, 2008 was a Lovemore N'dou rematch, this time on N'dou turf at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom. Malignaggi again proved he was the champ and beat N'dou in a twelve round decision.

Malignaggi then decided to vacate the title that he worked so hard for to take a fight with Ricky Hatton for the IBO junior welterweight title. A heartbroken Malignaggi was TKO'd in the 11 round in a controversial stoppage from his corner that shocked and upset the gallant Malignaggi, who desperately wanted to continue fighting.

The Hatton loss hit the prideful Malignaggi hard. Turning off his cell phone and spending long days intentionally in solitude, Malignaggi searched his soul for answers and purpose. After facing his demons and thinking long and hard, a better Malignaggi finally began to emerge. He found many answers that he was looking for about life. He also found answers regarding boxing and decided to switch trainers and his future fight game plans.

Malignaggi took a tune up fight with game opponent Chris Fernandez on April 25th, 2009 at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut. Like he had vowed, the old Paulie was back and better than ever, with blinding hand speed and footwork reminiscent of an intricate dance. Malignaggi made the ring seem like a giant checkerboard as he went to work on the headstrong Fernandez. Malignaggi walked away with the unanimous decision in a shutout of Fernandez, a tough opponent who throughout the fight and after was completely star struck by his opponent.

Next up for Malignaggi is a fight with Amir Khan the defending WBA Welterweight Champion on May 15, 2010.