Paulie Malignaggi was a class above Antonio Moscatiello as he claimed a wide points victory at The O2.

The two-weight world champion withstood a late assault from the spirited Moscatiello, who was drafted in as a late replacement, and collected the EBU-EU welterweight title with scores of 119-110, 119-110 and 120-109 at The O2.

In the opening round, Malignaggi displayed his classy footwork, stabbing out crisp jabs and then skipping neatly out of range.

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Moscatiello had not travelled to London for a sparring session and landed two rights on the veteran in the second round.

But Malignaggi's accurate jab has been a trusty weapon throughout his career and he continued to send stiff left hands into the face of the Milan man.

Despite a steady stream of punishment, Moscatiello plodded forward gamely and walked into a crisp right hand in the fifth round, although he did answer with a left hook of his own in the seventh.

As they headed into the later rounds, the legs of the 35-year-old Malignaggi lacked their usual bounce and was caught by hurtful body shots from Moscatiello in the 10th.

There was a brief moment of concern for Malignaggi in the last round as his legs were stiffened by a looping left hand, but the 'Magic Man' knew far too much for Moscatiello and nimbly stayed away from danger until the final bell.