By Thomas Gerbasi

Cristian Cangelosi has learned a lot from former two-division world champion Paul Malignaggi in the time they’ve known each other. But did he learn the most important lesson of the fight game, to not put himself in position to have to cut his hair in between rounds?

They both laugh.

“Yeah, I know,” said the 19-year-old Cangelosi, a promising 152-pound amateur from Palermo who competes in the quarterfinals of the Ring Masters tournament in Staten Island Thursday night against Alex Vargas.

The tournament, which basically takes the place of the New York Golden Gloves that isn’t happening because of a dispute with the longtime sponsor of the tourney, the NY Daily News, is Cangelosi’s first exposure to the fight game in America, and as he gets used to life living in Brooklyn, he’s also getting used to a different style of boxing.

“Even from the stance, there’s a lot more upper body movement,” he said. “That’s been the biggest thing I’ve noticed and what I’m trying to learn as well. American boxing is more rhythmic than Italian boxing. And I’m trying to use the jab more and more.”

Cangelosi had his jab pumping in his first bout in the tournament, a decision win over Joseph Consiglio on March 22. It was a solid performance, one that showed the teenager to have the skills to be successful in both the amateur and pro ranks. His jab was strong, his defense solid, and when he received a warning late in the fight after he dodged a rush from Consiglio and ran around him to reset, he responded by putting it on his foe with both hands until the bell sounded.

But Malignaggi said that was just a sample.

“I think he had the jitters,” he said of Cangelosi. “It was his first fight in the tournament and he wanted to make a good impression. He also hadn’t fought in a year, so he got that rust off. But I told him, ‘Some guys that aren’t on your level, you’ve got to step it up. You’re setting traps for guys who don’t know what a trap is.’”

Cangelosi took it all in, setting the stage for what should be an improved effort against former novice champ Vargas, and it’s one Malignaggi expects from the young man he met by chance back in the summer of 2016.

A year earlier, Malignaggi was coming off a loss to Danny Garcia, and he was enjoying civilian life at a block party in Bensonhurst when he met a Muay Thai kickboxer from Italy who was vacationing in New York. The two exchanged information, and when Malignaggi was in Italy for his own vacation the following summer, they got together for lunch and Cangelosi came along.

“We were all talking,” Malignaggi recalled. “Cristian’s a young kid and he finally starts to come out of his shell, and I start to realize this kid knows that he’s talking about when it comes to boxing. He started telling me things I could relate to and that only a kid who boxes knows.”

“I used to watch him on YouTube,” Cangelosi said of Malignaggi. “Everybody used to talk about this Sicilian kid in America who was making it big. For me, it was a phenomenal thing. I’m Sicilian and I’m seeing this Sicilian boxing with an American style. I wanted to keep watching and learn to box like that.”

Malignaggi found out that Cangelosi had around 50 bouts at the time, was on the Italian National team and was on his way to the junior worlds. And while the teenager saved all his praise for his younger brother Alessio, he also told Malignaggi that he would love to have a training camp in the United States. “The Magic Man,” who was coming off a win over Gabriel Bracero, wasn’t sure if he was going to fight again. But when a March 2017 bout against Sam Eggington presented itself, he was in, and he invited the Cangelosi brothers to Miami.

They went, and they were hooked. The dream was in motion.

It was a dream first owned by their father, who boxed some as an amateur before a baby – Cristian – was conceived. His father was 18, his mother 15, and the father had to go to work to take care of his new family. But he never lost his love for the sport.

“My father always watched Rocky and tried to watch the fights from America and always talked about boxing,” said Cangelosi. “Then we started to get curious about it. We were always drawn to boxing and eventually we said we wanted to try it. And my father was like, ‘You sure you want to do this? This isn’t easy. You don’t have to do this just because I like it.’ It’s definitely not easy, but me and my brother love it.”

And they’re good at it. Alessio, 17, is also on the Italian National team and preparing for the Junior Olympics back at home. Cristian came to the States last October and has been here ever since with the exception of a ten-day trip home to keep his visa intact.

Malignaggi, who has been looking out for Cangelosi, along with longtime friend Peter Sferrazza, while he’s here, hopes the youngster can earn a berth on the Italian Olympic team in 2020, but he admits that it’s a longshot.

“In the Senior division, it’s a lot more political. They don’t qualify for a spot. Once a guy has it, he has it, and if he doesn’t want to turn pro, which they never do, you just don’t get a spot or a chance to fight for it. I may try to talk to the Federation. I’m not asking for any favors, I just want him to be able to fight for a chance on the team.”

Someone who has never done anything halfway, whether in or out of the ring, is all-in with Cangelosi, and he believes in his potential. He is also taken in by Cangelosi’s story, as he’s a kid who, like so many boxers, came from humble beginnings armed with only their fists and a dream.

“He’s from Ballaro,” Malignaggi said. “It’s the toughest part of Palermo. He has a very tight-knit family and they’re really supportive of his boxing. But in that neighborhood, nobody really gets out. When I went to meet his family, everyone around him said, ‘We’d love to see these brothers be able to make a story and then come back here one day and bring TV cameras and show how we live over here.’”

That’s Cangelosi’s hope too.

“The goal is obvious – to become a world champion,” he said. “It’s a long-term goal. My short-term goals are to keep improving and get better and better. And one day I hope everybody can come see where I come from and how I grew up.”