(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) By Dan Ambrose: At 35-year-old, former two division world champion Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi (35-7, 7 KOs) can’t afford to lose his next fight against Gabriel Bracero (24-2, 5 KOs) on July 30 if he wants to remain useful as a name guy for the upper echelon fighters to use an opponent. The Malignaggi vs. Bracero fight will be taking place on the undercard of the featherweight clash between Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight will be televised on Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime,.
Since losing his WBA title to Adrien Broner three years ago, Malignaggi has been the B-side guy for fights against Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. Malignaggi lost both of those fights by knockout losses. He’s since won his last two fights against lower level opposition in Lazko Fazekas and Antonio Moscatiello.
Malignaggi’s fight against the 35-year-old Bracero is a continuation of that trend in facing lower level fighters. That’s why it’s important that Malignaggi not be seen losing to Bracero or winning a controversial decision.
“I think my fight with Bracero is an interesting clash of styles. We have similar styles in that we like to box and counter punch but we’re also both very familiar with each other. I’m sure he’ll have something up his sleeve for me,” said Malignaggi.
Bracero only has five knockouts out of his 26 fights during his 15-year pro career. His KO percentage is just 19%, which is clearly not too good, However, Bracero showed some rare power in his last fight against Danny O’Connor in knocking him out in the 1st round with a right hand to the head. If that KO is a sign that Bracero has suddenly developed some punching power after all these years in the pro game, then it’s quite possible that we’re going to see Malignaggi knocked out once again.
Malignaggi moved up to 147 after getting stopped in the 11h round six years ago in 2010. During the six years that Malignaggi ha been fighting at welterweight, he has an eight and three record. Malignaggi does not belong in the 147lb division, and even a guy like Bracero might be too much for him.
“Making this kind of all-Brooklyn fight is great for the fans. We both have our own followings so it should make for an electric atmosphere at Barclays Center,” said Malignaggi.
If Malignaggi loses to Bracero, then it might be a good idea for him to think seriously about retiring from the sport. There are guys that it’s okay to lose against like Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia, but then there are guys that are definitely not okay to lose to like Bracero.
Malignaggi has suffered knockout losses in two of his fights in the last two years to Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. Bracero has a decent right hand. If he can land that punch with any consistency on July 30, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Malingaggi on the canvas knocked out. Porter really worked Malignaggi over in knocking him out real bad in their fight in 2014. The only thing Porter did was rush Malignaggi, pin him to the ropes, and batter him until he was finished. If Bracero has been watching that fight, then he’ll have a pretty good blueprint to follow to stop Malignaggi.