Paulie Malignaggi: Etinosa Oliha's win over Aaron McKenna could revive Italian boxing

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With a victory against Italy’s Etinosa Oliha on Saturday, August 8, Irish middleweight Aaron McKenna looks poised to induce a wave of nationalist fighting pride for his Irish homeland, but ProBoxTV’s own Paulie Malignaggi says an Oliha victory could trigger the very same for Italian boxing fans.

IBF No. 2-ranked Oliha, 22-0 (10 KOs), of Turin Italy, and IBF No. 3-ranked middleweight McKenna, 20-0 (10 KOs) of Monaghan, Ireland, will meet for the vacant IBF middleweight in the 12-round main event of Saturday’s Zuffa Boxing 10 broadcast, live on Paramount+ and SKY (2:00 pm EDT/7:00 pm BST) from Dublin, Ireland’s 3Arena.

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Along with the fan support and momentum of having his first professional fight on Irish soil, the undefeated McKenna is going in this weekend as the betting favorite to win the title left vacant after the IBF stripped former champ Janibek Alimkhanuly.

But, former world champion Malignaggi, speaking on the Combat & Coffee show, hosted by Malignaggi and Big Jimbo Reynolds on Malignaggi’s Paulie TV YouTube channel, says an Oliha victory could ignite a rediscovered passion in Italy’s fistic community.

“Listen, you're going to favor McKenna, who is a more known prospect and probably the guy that Zuffa is trying to push a little bit, but Oliha coming in at 21-0 has not had it easy in his career,” reminded Malignaggi.

Malignaggi notes that, despite his own undefeated record, Oliha, born in Turin, Italy, to Nigerian immigrant parents, hasn’t yet sparked excitement in his native land.

“I would like, as an Italian American, to have seen Oliha get more press in Italy,” continued Malignaggi. “The problem with the boxing press in Italy is that it's almost non-existent. Plus, Oliha not being a blood Italian… he was born in Torino, but with an African background, maybe not everybody takes to him right away… I think the main reason he hasn't caught attention yet is that sometimes it's not easy for people to take for the fighter who doesn't look like them right away.

“But also, boxing doesn't get a lot of coverage in Italy. I do think that if Oliha could bring home a world championship, it would be a big story in Italy. It would give a little bit of momentum to some boxing news coverage in Italy, which has been really poor for the last 30-35 years, since the TV contracts for big-time boxing went away.”

Malignaggi says although it may take some extra time, Italy has a history of warming up to its domestic fighters, regardless of race or color, and if Oliha were to win, he could quickly find himself enjoying national hero status.

“Italy has had some really fan-favorite black fighters, Nino La Rocca and Sumbu Kalambay, back in the day, they were really fan-favorite black fighters from Italy… You had guys like Kalambay and La Rocca, and (Loris) Stecca, and (Patrizio) Oliva in the 80s, even Luigi Minchillo was a solid fighter as well… It would be fun to see a world boxing champion from Italy again.

Still, Malignaggi keeps it real regarding 28-year-old “El Chapo” Oliha’s chances against McKenna.

“He’s (McKenna) a good fighter, tall, big for the weight class, and it’s going to be in Ireland, on a Zuffa show. And of course, you know, Dana White likes his Irish guys and obviously, you're always going to gravitate a little bit to your own kind.”

BoxingScene's Lance Pugmire explains the ongoing situation with Noel Mikaelian accepting an offer to fight Jai Opetaia when his promoter Don King had arranged for him to face David Benavidez. Lance also shares his thoughts on William Zepeda's win over Lamont Roach Jr. and Raymond Muratalla's next move.

Callum Simpson speaks ahead of his rematch with Troy Williamson this Saturday, reflecting on his first professional defeat, his decision to team up with Rob McCracken and his preparations for the rematch. Simpson also responds to Williamson's frustrations over the rematch clause and insists his rival should be grateful for the two biggest paydays of his career. He also discusses his mentality after losing for the first time, watching the stoppage back, moving forward with Rob McCracken and his ambitions of becoming a world champion.

Callum Walsh discusses his journey from Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym to Manny Pacquiao's new gym in Hollywood, his relationship with Dana White and his role in the rise of Zuffa Boxing.

Aaron McKenna looks back on his first trip to America, where he faced future world champion Devin Haney in the semi-finals of the Ringside World Championships in 2011.