By Giancarlo Malinconico: Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi will have his hands full on August 22 when he faces the “Baby Bull” Juan Diaz in Houston; the fight will be aired on the HBO Boxing After Dark series. Manny Pacuqiao has been criticized for wanting a catch weight in the Cotto fight, but Diaz seems to have gotten a pass on his request for Paulie to meet him at 138.5 instead of the full light welterweight limit.
This fight, nevertheless, appears to be a bad match up for Paulie. Diaz is a come forward, high-punch output fighter who places relentless pressure on his opponents. The reason I feel this may be a bad match up for Paulie– his lack of punching power. Diaz is a fighter who will come forward unless something with enough pop is thrown back his way to keep him honest.
There have been two effective blueprints against Diaz. One is to attack him with power shots similar to the way Marquez did in their encounter. The other approach is the one Nate Campbell carried out. Campbell out horsed the horse. Campbell never took a backwards step all while outworking Diaz to get the win.
Paulie will probably not be able to employ the Campbell or Marquez strategy because those fighters both hold a solid amount of punching power. So this bout looks like the ideal match up for a fighter like Diaz. Diaz will not have to worry about being hurt with a big shot when he walks through Paulie and attempts to overwhelm him with combination punching.
In order to win this fight, Paulie must put take a page out of Hopkins’ book. He must be a constantly moving counterpuncher. Paulie cannot under any circumstances turn this bout into a slugfest. But the odds do not look good for Paulie. Diaz will be confident in his ability to cutoff the ring without the threat of something powerful coming his way in return. He will consistently stalk Paulie, attempting to draw him into a brawl.
In order for Paulie to win, he must execute the perfect game plan and fight the proverbial perfect fight. Paulie must use the jab and be a disciplined counterpuncher all night while moving swiftly around the ring avoiding unnecessary exchanges if he has any chance of escaping Houston with a decision victory.
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