by David P. Greisman

Paulie Malignaggi has been uncertain for some time about whether to retire. He’s stepped away before, then returned, then repeated the process.

The concussion he suffered in a stoppage loss to Shawn Porter in 2014 damaged him enough that it took more than a year until he had a fight signed, though that bout with Danny O’Connor was canceled. Instead, he returned last August, nearly a year to the day, losing to Danny Garcia and feeling as if he wasn’t himself in the ring.

But Malignaggi also had dreams he wanted to fulfill, so he flew to Italy, where his family is from, to fight Laszlo Fazekas last September. And he wanted to fight for a European title, only for that bout not to come to fruition, but he still took on Antonio Moscatiello last December. He won both times, but continued to mull over his career.

Now he’s back once again, fighting for the first time in 2016 with a bout Saturday night against Gabriel Bracero on the Showtime Extreme-aired preliminary undercard to Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton.

Malignaggi is fighting where he wants his last fight to be. But he still isn’t sure if this will be his last fight.

“I don’t know, man. I would always love to end my career in Brooklyn, but we’ll see how things play out,” Malignaggi said in an onstage interview after weighing in at 146.5 pounds for his fight with Bracero. “I never say never. I get sick and tired of making weight. But then I get in the ring and I feel good. I never know. I’m not thinking about that. I’m thinking about winning the fight [tonight].”

Malignaggi is 35 years old. The former two-division titleholder is 35-7 with 7 KOs. And he continues to have another career — he is an analyst with Showtime.

For the Moscatiello fight, Malignaggi fought and then was a guest broadcaster for Sky Sports show. He plans to do the same thing on Saturday night.

One thing’s for certain: It won’t be the last time he dons the headphones. We just don’t know if it’ll be the last time he laces up the gloves.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com