Malignaggi Dominates Judah to Claim Battle of Brooklyn When Paulie Malignaggi believes he has been wronged, he does not quietly stand by. When he has been on the losing side of a controversial decision, he has ranted about everything from incompetent judges and crooked scorecards to the influence of promoters. His tantrums have become well-known. It was the same story Saturday night in Brooklyn. In the second round of his welterweight fight against Zab Judah at Barclays Center, Malignaggi was knocked to the canvas by a straight left from Judah. He jumped to his feet, and immediately protested the knock down, pleading with the referee that it was a trip. The fighters" legs were intertwined but the punch landed clean and Malignaggi's glove hit the canvas. He continued petitioning his case throughout the standing eight count. Malignaggi (33-5, seven knockouts) recovered brilliantly from the fall, however, and dominated Judah winning a unanimous decision, 116-111, 117-110, 117-110. Despite the outcome the disputed knock down was still on his mind after the bout. "If your foot is on the inside and you do a spin move, you're going to trip," Malignaggi said, starting his comments with an expletive and sounding as if he had lost the bout as he tried to explain what happened. The shot just grazed me. The fight was billed as the Battle of Brooklyn: Judah, 36, of Brownsville facing Bensonhurst's 33-year-old Malignaggi. The fighters - both former world champions at the light welterweight and welterweight classes - walked out to songs from hometown artists, Jay-Z for Judah and The Notorious B.I.G. for Malignaggi. Judah, the slight favorite among the announced crowd of 9,363, rapped along to the lyrics as Malignaggi entered the ring, his eyes on his opponent. The fighters wasted little time trying to read one another's styles. Malignaggi had an abrasion over this left eye after the first round before being dropped by the straight left in the second. But he took over the fight in the middle rounds, peppering Judah with left jabs, including 16 of 32 in a dominant sixth round. Even when Judah unleashed a barrage of wild shots in the seventh, Malignaggi leaned on his quick jab to pressure Judah and control the action. "I backed him up," Malignaggi said. He didn't fight too well going backwards. Malignaggi fought with more urgency, landing 220 punches to the slower Judah's 121. "It was different from what I thought it was going to be," Judah said. He kept working his jab. The bulk of the fight's promotion focused on neighborhood bragging rights ignoring the more uncomfortable narrative: at this point in their careers, it would be tough for either fighter to recover from a defeat. "This is an emotional win for me," Malignaggi said. This definitely allows me to continue boxing. With a loss, I don't know if I would have wanted to continue. Both Malignaggi and Judah seemed to recognize the gravity of the moment. The buildup to the fight was civil, even harmonious, with declarations of friendship and respect in place of the typical bluster. Malignaggi had a much rougher night when he last fought at Barclays Center, losing the World Boxing Association welterweight title to budding superstar Adrien Broner in a split decision in June. Afterward, Malignaggi also lost his cool, blaming the judges even though he landed fewer punches than Broner and could not budge him even when he connected. Malignaggi's lack of punching power has hampered him throughout his career. While Malignaggi has trouble ending fights, he possesses exceptional hand speed and movement, allowing him to land bunches of combinations thrown from odd angles. He also has a sturdy chin; in June 2006, Malignaggi went the distance with Miguel Cotto despite breaking an orbital bone during the fight. Judah also entered Saturday night coming off a competitive defeat at Barclays, losing a unanimous decision to junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia in April. In one of the bravest efforts of his career, Judah rallied from a slow start and an eighth round knockdown to bloody Garcia in the later rounds with thudding left hands. It was a moral victory for a fighter known for fading down the stretch. Though pegged for superstardom from an early age, Judah, a southpaw gifted with exquisite power, has had an inconsistent career littered with baffling emotional outbursts: he attacked the referee after a second-round knockout loss to Kostya Tszyu in 2001; he blatantly fouled Floyd Mayweather during their 2006 bout triggering a melee in the ring; he drifted in apathetic losses to Carlos Baldomir and Amir Khan. Somehow, he always rebounded, but now Judah (42-9, 29 knockouts) may be out of comebacks. "I have to go back, put it together and see what's next," Judah said. With the 147-pound division brimming with star power and quality, Malignaggi, who contemplated retirement after his loss in June, has several prospects for his next fight. Every boxer would like a shot at Mayweather, and while a fight with Malignaggi guarantees an amusing press tour, it appears doubtful a bout with Mayweather will happen. A rematch with Broner, who fights the Argentine slugger Marcos Maidana next week, is more likely.