Broner vs. Malignaggi: One possibility, says Schaefer

By Boxing News - 11/29/2012 - Comments

Image: Broner vs. Malignaggi: One possibility, says SchaeferBy Allan Fox: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer really needs an opponent for WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi after all the big plans they had in store for him in facing Ricky Hatton went up in smoke last Saturday night with Hatton’s loss to Senchenko.

Malignaggi wants that one big name for him to fight so he can get a nice payday, but Schaefer unfortunately doesn’t have a lot of choices to put in with Malignaggi. Schaefer says he could look to the lightweight division to have his young star WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner move up two divisions to face Malignaggi.

This is what Schaefer said to RingTV yesterday, and it’s a fight that might really be Malignaggi’s only chance at getting that big fight. Broner obviously isn’t Floyd Mayweather Jr. nor is he Manny Pacquiao, but you’ve got to put Broner ahead of the other options – Andre Berto, Amir Khan and Victor Ortiz – that Schaefer was mentioning as possibilities for Malignaggi. Ortiz is obviously a draw in the United States, but given that Ortiz has lost his last two fights it might look really bad for him to get selected as Malignaggi’s next opponent. That’s not exactly a big name right now.

Ortiz needs to redeem himself before he’d be a worthy quality fight for Malignaggi. I don’t know. If all Schaefer is looking for is to throw any fighter that boxing fans will recognize then by all means Berto or Ortiz would be perfect for Malignaggi because they have recognizable names. However, that’s probably not the kind of names hat Malignaggi would like because those guys are tainted right now due to their losses.

Looks bad when you put a fighter in with a champion after losing his losing his last two fights in the case of Ortiz. Berto’s not much better. He’s lost two out of his last three fights. Does Schaefer want to put those guys in with Malignaggi thinking the boxing public will love those fights? And you can’t use Amir Khan because he’s lost his two fights as well, and he’s not going to be brought back to the top with his fight against lightweight Carlos Molina next month.

To me, Broner vs. Malignaggi is the best option that Schaefer has. Broner is looking great and it’ll be a perfect fight for Broner. He doesn’t even have to gain any weight. He can just fight it like he’s fighting a lightweight and go into the fight around the mid 140s and totally school Malignaggi.



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