By Radio Rahim

Former champion Paulie Malignaggi is preparing for a scheduled return against Danny Garcia, taking place on August 1st as a Premier Boxing Champions televised headliner on ESPN.

A few weeks ago, Malignaggi made some comments about Manny Pacquiao that caused some controversy.

Malignaggi has long believed that Pacquiao, at least during his hot streak, used some form of an illegal performance enhancing drug.

Pacquiao's accomplishments are likely not going to be broken for a very long time - especially his ability to capture world titles in a record eight weight divisions. Pacquiao captured his first world title at 112-pounds in 1998 and his final divisional belt was won at junior middleweight (catch-weight of 150) in 2010.

Malignaggi has called that impressive accomplishment into question. He points out that Pacquiao's streak of knockouts and brutal beatings seemed to vanish after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and members of his team accused the Filipino star of using performance enhancers. Those accusations led to a lawsuit for defamation and both sides settled. Pacquiao has not scored a knockout win since November of 2009.

The statements by Malignaggi have enraged Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who openly banned the Brooklyn boxer from the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. And Roach even went as far as to tell reporters that he may physically confront Malignaggi if he tried to enter the gym. Malignaggi still trains with Eric Brown, who works out of the Wild Card and is close friends with Roach.

Despite the controversy, Malignaggi is standing firm on his statements and his opinions when it comes to Pacquiao and the Filipino fighter's incredible accomplishments as a fighter.

"I stand by my comments on Manny Pacquiao. I feel like what I've stated is the case. I have an educated opinion behind my reasoning of why I feel that way. I didn't just come out of it and pull it out of my ass. There has been a lot of great fighters in my generation and past generations. I didn't just single out Manny Pacquiao for a certain reason. I singled out Manny Pacquioa because to me it was very clear that there was something very fishy about him," Malignaggi explained to BoxingScene.com.

"That's what it is to me and I'm allowed to make my opinions. I'm allowed to speculate, especially with what I know about boxing. My boxing IQ is far superior to anyone else that I ever speak to. I'm very confident in my boxing IQ. I'm very confident in the things I see. I've seen a lot of great fighters and I've never said anything about them - in regard to what I've said about Manny Pacquiao."

"Maybe there have been other fighters who have not been clean in boxing, but for me it didn't stand out like it did with Manny Pacquiao. For me, for what I think, for what I'm thinking I'm seeing - Manny Pacquiao is just a spitting face [of not being clean]. You have to be a moron not to see what I've seen - or you just don't want to believe it. Maybe he's your hero and you don't want to believe a guy like that would want to do something like that. To each their own, we're all entitled to our own opinion. You're entitled to your prerogative. And that's my prerogative and my opinion of Pacquiao. I just didn't pull it out of my ass."

"I respect Freddie Roach and still believe that he's one of the better trainers in the sport. I really do feel that at day's end, that Freddie will never admit it publicly - but Freddie was a fighter just like I was a fighter and because of that I feel like he knows. Any fighter knows what I'm talking about and agrees with what I'm talking about. They just don't want the controversy of making those comments public. I don't care about the controversy. Either way, its my opinion and I'm entitled to it."