Nine years ago, when Paul “Magic Man” Malignaggi was just 17 years old, he and several other New York City Golden Gloves boxers traveled to Ireland and England to compete in international tournaments. Hosting the trip was Ring 8, the NYC chapter of the Veteran Boxers Association, the venerable institution that has been helping boxers for more than 50 years.

“Paulie was the best fighter in the tournaments,” said Henry Wallitsch, a former professional heavyweight who tangled with, among others, Ernie Terrell and is now the president of Ring 8. “We kept telling him that he was going to be a [professional] champion someday.”

The “we” that Wallitsch is talking about is Tony Mazzarella and Bobby Bartels, both of whom have also served as presidents of the organization. All three were present at the Ring 8’s monthly meeting on June 19, when Malignaggi, who just three days earlier at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, defeated Lovemore Ndou by unanimous decision to win the IBF junior welterweight title, came back to his roots as a newly crowned champion.

“He’s a beautiful kid and this is a beautiful story,” said Mazzarella. “It’s great to see that he achieved his dreams.”

“That trip was the most fun of my amateur career,” said the always engaging 26-year-old Malignaggi, 23-1 (5 KOS), who was sporting a few facial black and blues and eight stitches on his right eyelid. “Those guys always told me great things, but they also kept me grounded. They let me know that I couldn’t let my [amateur] success go to my head. That wasn’t always easy, because I was a cocky teenager.”

The Malignaggi saga is the feel-good story of the year. After winning a national amateur tournament, he was contemplating trying out for the 2000 Olympic team, where his promoter, Lou DiBella, believed he would have been favored to win a gold medal.

However, Malignaggi, who survived a hellish childhood, was a high school dropout with a propensity for trouble. At the time he met DiBella, he was living on his grandmother’s couch.

Without boxing as an outlet, Malignaggi seemed destined for a dismal future that might have ended behind prison walls—or worse.

DiBella turned him pro in 2001 and now says that investing in Malignaggi’s future was “the best investment I’ve ever made.”

“This guy is made for television,” added DiBella, who denigrated Ultimate Fighting and said someone with the star potential of Malignaggi is just what boxing needs right now.

“Paulie understands that boxing is about entertainment,” said DiBella. “He doesn’t have a lot of power and he doesn’t have a high knockout ratio, but he’s willing to stand in the pocket and fight if he needs to. Sometimes he’ll take three to land one, but he knows how to win. More importantly, he knows how to win in exciting and entertaining fashion.”

DiBella then alluded to 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell’s dreary decision victory over Curtis Stevens as the HBO lead-in to the Malignaggi-Ndou bout. He called the fight a “track meet,” and blamed all the running on Dirrell.

He also brought up Floyd Mayweather’s less than inspiring victory over Oscar De La Hoya. “Mayweather won the fight, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for the guy who was chasing him around the ring all night (De La Hoya),” said DiBella.

He said that Malignaggi knows how to please the fans. With an engaging personality to match his immense athletic skills, he believes his future is limitless.

One other aspect of the Malignaggi saga that should endear him to the public is his complex relationship with his father, Sebastiano, a former professional soccer player who Malignaggi barely knew growing up

Over the last few years they have slowly re-connected. After winning the title in such dramatic fashion, Malignaggi’s eyes scanned the arena for his father. When he finally spotted him, he extended his arms and implored him to come to the ring. Both cried unabashedly as they held each other tightly for what seemed like an eternity.

“It was great to share that moment with him,” said Malignaggi. “He came all the way from the other side of the world to see me. Winning the title was ecstasy for me. Having my father there made it even better.”

Other guests at the Ring 8 meeting included:

Former cruiserweight and heavyweight contender Seamus McDonagh, who gallantly but unsuccessfully challenged Evander Holyfield in 1990. Now an actor, the likeable McDonagh will be starring in “Kid Shamrock,” a one-act play written by Robert Cassidy Jr. and directed by Gary D. Morgan.

The play chronicles the life in and out of the ring of Cassidy’s father, “Irish” Bobby Cassidy, a perennial middleweight and light heavyweight contender in the sixties and seventies.

The play can be seen on Friday, June 29, at 7:30 P.M., and Saturday, June 30, at 3 PM and 7:30 P.M. at the Producers Club Theaters, 358 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Tickets are $28.50 and can be purchased by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101.

In addition to the play, author Ron Ross will read from his book “Bummy Davis vs. Murder Inc.” There will also be a highlight reel of fights on film that pulls no punches; renowned photographer and film maker Chris Cassidy, brother of Robert Jr. and son of “Irish” Bobby, will display many of his compelling boxing portraits, and Showtime announcer Steve Farhood will talk boxing with former champions Vito Antuofermo, Juan LaPorte and Carlos Ortiz.

Bill Farrell, who has been covering the NYC Golden Gloves for the Daily News, the tournament sponsor, since 1987, discussed his acclaimed new book, “Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves.” He says that the most exciting GG fighters that he’s ever seen fight in person are Malignaggi, Michael Bentt and Zab Judah.

Also in attendance was former middleweight Alex “The Bronx Bomber” Ramos, who talked about the Retired Boxers Foundation, his wonderful organization that has been helping boxers deal with, among other things, alcohol and substance abuse, depression and pugilistic dementia.

Although based in California, the organization’s humanitarian efforts traverse the globe.

Ramos told the assembled audience that he was living a great life and that “he was going to die doing the right thing for boxing.”

The organization’s web site is: www. retiredboxers.org

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