By Allan Fox: WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) has formed a belief that unbeaten lightweight Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s) is an overrated fighter with power that’s not as good as his resume suggests, and Malignaggi is ready to test belief next month on June 22nd in their fight in Brooklyn, New York.
Malignaggi thinks he’ll have no problems taking Broner’s best shots without getting hurt and returning fire to soften him up to beat him by a decision.
Malignaggi isn’t predicting a knockout. He knows that Broner has a pretty good chin, and he’ll probably be able to take his best shots for 12 rounds. But he does see himself winning the fight by a fairly lopsided decision.
Malignaggi said to I Film London “The fact that I’m the bigger guy may tell or it may not…I’m really not that impressed. He’s definitely not a pound for pound fighter.”
It’s still too early to tell if Broner will end up as a legitimate pound for pound fighter. Ring magazine has Broner at #6 in their pound for pound ratings, but he’s still not beaten anyone good enough for him to deserve that ranking.
If Broner were to beat Malignaggi and the turn around and defeat the likes of Devon Alexander, Kell Brook and Keith Thurman at welterweight, then you could maybe talk about Broner being a pound for pound fighter. But his best wins have come against Antonio De Marco, Gavin Rees, Daniel Ponce De Leon and Jason Litzau, and that’s not good enough for him to be ranked as a pound for pound fighter.
Broner may end up beating Malignaggi next month but it won’t prove a whole lot. It takes more than that to show that Broner is for real. He needs to beat the aforementioned fighters in addition to beating the likes of Lucas Matthysse and Danny Garcia.
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