Malignaggi: You’re a moron if you think it’s going to be one-sided against Danny Garcia

By Boxing News - 07/03/2015 - Comments

malignaggi133By Dan Ambrose: The ring rusty Paulie Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) doesn’t think it’s going to be a one-sided fight when he gets inside the ring with Danny Garcia (30-0, 17 KOs) in less than 30 days from now on August 1st in their fight at welterweight at 147 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

While many boxing fans are giving the 34-year-old, light hitting Malignaggi no chance of beating Garcia, Malignaggi thinks that it’s not going to be a total wipeout that fans think it is.

Malignaggi, who hasn’t fought in over a year, isn’t making a lot of bold predictions about the fight other than to say it’s going to be a competitive affair.

“You’re a moron if you think this is gonna be a one sided fight,” Malignaggi said on his Twitter.

Malignaggi did not look too good the last time he saw action in April of 2014 in losing by a 4th round knockout to Shawn Porter. In fairness to Malignaggi, he was facing a very good fighter in Porter in a division that he really wasn’t cut out for. Malignaggi started his career out at 140, and he moved up to 147 in 2010 following his one-sided 11h round knockout loss to Amir Khan in 2010. Since moving up to 147, Malignaggi has posted a record of 6-2, with his defeats coming at the hands of Adrien Broner and Porter.

Those are good fighters and you can’t really blame Malignaggi for losing to them. Malignaggi fought well enough against Broner to deserve either a win or a draw. There were a lot of boxing fans who felt that Malignaggi was robbed in the Broner fight. Malignaggi has wins over Zab Judah, Jose Miguel Cotto, Pablo Cesar Cano and Vyacheslav Senchenko in the last four years. Those aren’t bad fighters.

Garcia is going to likely come into the ring well over 160 when he faces Malignaggi next month, and he’ll be looking to overpower him in the same way he did with little Rod Salka in 2014. Malignaggi’s only chance of winning the fight is to stay away from Garcia in the first six rounds, and try and guard against his big left hook that he likes to throw all the time.

Garcia wore down in the second half of this fight last April against Lamont Peterson from the pressure and perhaps the weight that he added to his frame. It’s possible that the added weight that Garcia will put on for this fight could slow him down in the second half of the fight, and this will enable Malignaggi to pick him apart and possibly cut him up.

Garcia’s face marks up badly when he gets hit a lot, and Malignaggi could maybe get a cut stoppage. It’s not likely but it might be his only real chance of winning unless he can win enough early rounds to take over the fight in the second half to win a decision.

Garcia is going to have problems at 147. He may not know that now, but he clearly will be. The fact that he’s fighting Malignaggi now instead of a contender at welterweight suggests that he’s worried.



Comments are closed.