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View Full Version : Paulie Malignaggi Stops Edner Cherry



Will
02-19-2007, 05:52 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Junior lightweight Paulie Malignaggi bounced back from his only loss to unanimously outpoint Edner Cherry on Saturday night at Hammerstein Ballroom.

Malignaggi, the Brooklyn fighter coming off a loss to WBO champion Miguel Cotto, improved to 22-1. Cherry, from Wauchula, Fla., dropped to 21-5-2.

"I'm back, but I did not make it exciting," said Malignaggi, who wants to fight Cotto again. "I have to push myself more."

Cherry acknowledged he was beaten.

"My plan was to cut off the ring and stay busy," he said. "It didn't work."

Malignaggi weighed in at 139 1/2 pounds, 2 more than Cherry.

Undefeated welterweight Andre Berto, a 2004 Olympian, stopped Norberto Bravo at 2:28 of the opening round to extend his winning streak to 17, with 15 by knockouts.

Berto, who weighed in at 145 1/2 pounds, sent Bravo to the canvas three times, the first with a solid left hook to the head, the other two with right uppercuts. Referee Joe Cusano invoked New York state's three-knockdown rule and halted the bout.

"I didn't think it would be this easy," said Berto, from Winterhaven, Fla. "I knew this wasn't going to last long. In the first knockdown I was testing his speed. Then I threw the bombs."

Bravo, 146 1/2 , of Tucson, Ariz., fell to 23-13-3.

Also, junior middleweight Sechew Powell (153 1/2 ) overcame a fourth-round knockdown to unanimously outpoint Ishe Smith (154 1/2 ). Powell improved to 21-1.