(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) By Dan Ambrose: It looks like we’ve seen the last of former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi (33-7, 7 KOs) following his 9th round stoppage loss to former light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs) tonight on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Malignaggi offered very little resistance to the 27-year-old Garcia, and about all he did was move around the ring trying to avoid getting hit. Malignaggi said after the fight that he thinks that he won’t be fighting again.
In other words, he’ll retiring. Of course, that means very little to the average boxer because many of them come back to the ring if they get a big fight offered to them, and Malignaggi likely will be one of those guys. He’s too well-known for him not to be offered a good payday by one of the promoters or by adviser Al Haymon.
“I’m probably not fighting again. You hate to make an emotional decision,” Malignaggi said via Fightnews.com. “My career started in Brooklyn 14 years ago. If it ends in Brooklyn tonight then at least I ended it at home where I’m from and in front of the greatest fans in the world.”
If Malignaggi did stick around, he wouldn’t be able to compete with the best. It’s not that he’s lost anything, because he’s still the same type of fighter he was when he beat Vyacheslav Senchenko three years ago to briefly win the WBA 147lb division. The difference is the welterweight division has gotten a lot better since then, and guys like Malignaggi and Adrien Broner aren’t able to win and hold down titles in the division right now. For that reason, Malignaggi is out of place at 147.
Maybe he could make something happen at 140 if he were willing to move back down in weight, but I doubt it. That division has improved too.
Malignaggi shouldn’t make it sound so dramatic when he’s very likely going to be back inside the ring in the future. It’s not as if Malignaggi made the kind of money that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have made during their careers. If Malignaggi does come back, then he’s going to have to understand his role will be.
It’ll be just like tonight where he’s playing the B-side fighter against a well-known guy who needs another well-known fighter but not someone dangerous that could potentially beat him. Malignaggi served his purpose tonight in being the opponent for Garcia, who really needed a soft touch after he was nearly beaten and made to look bad in his last fight against Lamont Peterson.
With the exception of his fight against little Rod Salka, Garcia hasn’t looked good since his fight against Lucas Matthysse in 2013. Putting Malignaggi in there with Garcia tonight made him look like a world killer. That’ll all change when Garcia eventually has to face a top welterweight like Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Marcos Maidana, Errol Spence Jr. or Amir Khan. Just when that will be is anyone’s guess.
I don’t expect Garcia to fight any of those fighters in 2015 or 2016. We’re probably going to see Garcia put in with Chris Algieri next followed by either Luis Collazo or Devon Alexander. I wouldn’t be surprised if those three figure to be Garcia’s next three opponents.
“I’ve got a really good job commentating and watching great fighters fight ringside. I hope to sit around ringside for a long time,” Malignaggi said. “I felt like if I couldn’t put up a great performance tonight then it would be my last. I was trying to hang tough as much as I could. I remember when I was taking big shots I just kept thinking ‘Don’t give in. This is your last night if you give in.”
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