Paulie Malignaggi has never been short of confidence and Ricky Hatton's opponent on Saturday certainly knows how to talk. “Everyone has a game plan until they get punched in the mouth,” he said yesterday. “And when that bell rings I'm going to go up to Ricky and punch him in the mouth - then we'll see what game plan he brings.”

Malignaggi, a brash Italian New Yorker of 27, faces Hatton in a crossroads bout for both at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Hatton has said that he will probably quit if he loses. Malignaggi is seeing this as a golden doorway to fame and fortune, which he believed he would have achieved by now.

“I thought I would be a lot bigger than this,” Malignaggi, the former IBF light-welterweight champion, said. “In America we are not really building new boxers as superstars, we just concentrate on old guys. In Britain and other countries they concentrate on their new stars and then build their next stars. We are too busy feeding off 100-year-old fighters, but we have to build our new fighters for the future.”

But boxing has been good to Malignaggi. As a teenager he was going nowhere fast, was in trouble with the police and was thrown out of school. In boxing, he found a way to channel his anger. “When I was young I never thought I could be in a position like this,” he said. “I still love what I do, but I treat it more now like it is my living. It gets to make a better life for me financially and it gets me to be on stage, which I love.

“I love to entertain, but as far as getting superstardom, I have let that go. When I was young that was a naive dream. It was never going to happen with the way boxing is covered in the United States nowadays. If I'd known back then, I wouldn't have been so excited about training. Being naive back then helped me get to this point.”

After winning his opening 21 bouts, Malignaggi's first big moment came in 2006, when he challenged Miguel Cotto for the WBO title at Madison Square Garden in New York. He lost but gave his highly rated opponent problems and showed plenty of bravery; it was discovered afterwards that he had boxed the last few rounds with a broken cheekbone.

But in many ways it was the making of him. He went on to win the IBF title, a belt that Hatton has won twice but has given up and which Malignaggi also had to relinquish so that this bout could go ahead.

The bout was a long time in the making. Malignaggi's last defence of the IBF title, against Lovemore N'dou, took place at the City of Manchester Stadium in May, on the undercard of Hatton's encounter with Juan Lazcano.

Determined to make a big impression, Malignaggi had an elaborate ring entrance and long dreadlock hair extensions inserted. It proved to be a near-disastrous evening. The hair proved impossible to control and blocked his vision. After the eighth round, he had an emergency haircut in his corner and by then he was also boxing with a broken hand. He escaped with a split-decision victory.

“I got a bit carried away last time trying to put on too much of a show,” he said. “I'm focused on the task at hand. If I learnt anything from the last fight, it was not to get distracted with extraterrestrial stuff. I wanted to make a nice impression, but I made a bit of an ass of myself. It is a lesson learnt, I guess.”

Although Malignaggi is the outsider with the Las Vegas odds-makers, he is not here to lose and is not in awe of Hatton or his support. Indeed, he believes that the Mancunian is overrated.

“I don't think this guy is a great fighter,” Malignaggi said. “I think he's a good fighter, but he's made his name beating over-the-hill fighters, including his best wins. His best one was José Luis Castillo, but he was shot [exhausted] after the first [Diego] Corrales fight.

“People go on about Kostya Tszyu, but Kostya hadn't fought anybody in 27 months. He beat Sharmba Mitchell and then met Ricky and got beat. And that fight was a free-for-all; the referee might as well have sat in the front row.”

Malignaggi knows that victory could push him into an elite pay bracket and does not believe Hatton has been giving him the respect he is due, saying: “This week he said something that p***ed me off. He said if he can't beat Paulie Malignaggi, then he should retire. He said no disrespect intended, but how can you not be disrespectful saying that? Before that, my goal wasn't his retirement, but now you say something like that, he's got to retire because he's not going to beat up Paulie Malignaggi.”

Speaking about himself in the third person - now that is the mark of a boxing star.

Hairy moments

Venus Williams was penalised a point at the 1999 Australian Open when beads from her hair fell on court and scattered during a match against Lindsay Davenport.

Jason Eaton, the All Blacks lock, spent ten months growing a mullet and long beard, then shaved them off for charity. He said he could see the ball better after the shave.

The hair of Jaxson de Ville, the mascot of the Jacksonville Jaguars American football team, caught fire when he got too close to some sparklers before Sunday's match against the Tennessee Titans.