(Photo credit: Casino/Showtime) By Timothy Medina: This Saturday at the Barclays Center a battle between two Brooklyn natives will be taking place. The two fighters clashing for supremacy of the borough are Zab Judah (42-8, 29 KO’s) and Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, 7 KO’s). Redemption is what they both seek after coming off losses earlier this year. This bout is likely to be exciting and memorable especially for New Yorkers yet, it is unlikely that a victory for either fighter this Saturday will earn them a mega-fight in 2014.
Last April 27th, Judah fought Danny Garcia for his WBA/WBC light welterweight straps. “Super” Judah was not so super against the young champion from Philadelphia. Garcia controlled the tempo of the fight from rounds one through nine and even sent Judah to the canvas in round eight. Judah was hanging on for dear life, trying to stick around for all twelve rounds. It was clear Garcia had already won the fight. However, Judah placed an exclamation point on the ending stages of the fight as he all of a sudden came to life.
Judah was bringing the fight to Garcia and claimed rounds ten, eleven and twelve. The thirty five-year-old veteran did not go down without a fight which was admirable. Unfortunately his valiant effort came much too late in the fight. If the fight had been scheduled to go twenty four rounds maybe Judah could have gained full momentum, turned the fight around and been victorious. However, that was not the case nor will it ever be the case in a championship bout. Thirty six minutes is all the champion and challenger receive. Garcia controlled the fight for twenty seven minutes and Judah attempted to make a comeback with only nine minutes of fighting left.
Last Summer on June 22nd, Malignaggi defended his WBA Welterweight title against Adrien Broner. It was a fight that had been hyped up with weeks of trash talking and arguments between the fighters. This created much more interest in the fight because Broner had never fought top competition and since he was running his mouth, he needed to back up his words exchanged with Malignaggi or else a loss would have been embarrassing to him.
From the beginning of round one everyone knew what the game plan was for Malignaggi. Malignaggi has no power so he was not going to be able to move Broner. Therefore, Malignaggi simply had to be busy and work with his jab to win rounds against Broner. That is exactly what he did. In the early rounds, Malignaggi was popping the jab and getting on the inside to throw body punches. It was effective and giving Malignaggi the rounds. However, by the middle rounds Malignaggi started to slow down and Broner was coming to him and displaying his power. Some of Broner’s punches were very hard and may have been hurting Malignaggi though they could not phase the champion. With that, Broner tried hard to shift the momentum. Malignaggi was trying hard to keep fighting and he was still effective at moments in the later rounds. It was a very close fight and it could have gone to either fighter. Personally, I gave the fight to Malignaggi due to the fact that he was busier and just a bit more effective especially since his jab was working for him the whole night.
The scores at the end of the fight were 115-113 for Broner, 115-113 for Malignaggi and 117-111 for Broner. Broner would walk away with the split decision and take Paulie’s WBA Welterweight title away from him. The scoring for Broner winning 115-113 did not bother me since it was that close of a fight. The judge that scored it 117-111 for Broner bothered me. Yes, Broner was landing the much harder punches and this was obvious. Everyone knew Broner would be hitting harder before the fight had even begun. That is all he did while Malignaggi was working much more than Broner every round and on top of being busier, he was landing about twenty punches per round. The only round Broner clearly won was round round eleven. Most of the rounds were close without a doubt. Still, I gave rounds one, two, three, four, five, ten and twelve to “The Magic Man”.
I will not say that Malignaggi exposed Broner because it is unknown how much Broner has improved on since their fight back in June. I will say that even past his prime, Malignaggi can give many fighters including young fighters in the welterweight class a tough time. If he stays busy and works like he did in his previous fight against Judah, he can win by unanimous decision easily. Malignaggi is my pick to win the fight. Judah has been a shot fighter for years. He is a crafty veteran though I can only see him defeating C+ and B level fighters if he continues to be in the sport after the bout with Malignaggi.
Judah should hang up his gloves if he loses to Malignaggi. Judah has nothing left to prove. He has made his mark in the sport of boxing by facing some of the best welterweights in the past. If Judah can win however, I am not sure who he will fight in 2014. I am almost sure that it will not be a mega-fight. The same goes for Malignaggi. I know that he is aiming for a rematch with Broner. If Broner defeats Marcos Maidana on December 14th, I do not see him bothering to give Malignaggi a rematch.
After December 7th, we shall all see what paths both Judah and Malignaggi take. It should make for a good fight and I hope they give boxing fans something to remember. I want to hear from other boxing fans. Who do you having winning this Saturday?
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