The Black Panther Stalks His Prey

January 4, 2008

I’m a sucker for trash-talking. I don’t care who the fighters involved are if they are able to throw around some good insults I will probably watch the fight. So you can imagine my excitement for tomorrow night’s IBF Light Welterweight title bout between champion Paulie Malignaggi and Herman Ngoudjo (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET/PT). Two great young fighters. Two great trash-talkers. One Montrealer (Ngoudjo). Can’t wait.

Their conference call last month should be shown to all aspiring fighters to teach them how to properly talk smack. Then, this past Wednesday in New York City, they slipped in a couple of more classic shots at the final pre-fight presser. Some of my favorites included:

“Don’t worry about remembering my opponent’s name, because come Sunday, no one will remember him anymore.” – Malignaggi

“I am going to punish Paulie. My fists will be singing in 12 different languages so I hope Paulie knows Italian since that will be one language of choice.” – Ngoudjo

“I plan on punishing Ngoudjo and I will break him down for talking so much crap. If I win by knockout, it will be in the later rounds.” – Malignaggi

“I knew I wanted to fight Paulie right after the Ndou fight. After I saw that fight, I said ‘I want this guy’ and I always get what I want. Now, I want to win, so I will win.” – Ngoudjo

My favorite of the bunch has to be this one from Ngoudjo:

“After I take his belt, we’re going to have a big party to celebrate.”

It certainly doesn’t get any better than that. For more great comments from Herman Ngoudjo take a listen my interview with “The Black Panther” himself. We talk about his upcoming bout, the controversial Castillo fight and his plans to fight Ricky Hatton once he defeats “The Magic Man.”

Herman Ngoudjo – 1/4/08