By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBA and WBC Super Lightweight Champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia will be defending his titles this Saturday, August 1st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York against former belt holder Paulie Malignaggi of New York. The 12-round bout is another episode in the Premier Boxing Champions Series (PBC) and fans in the U.S. can catch it live on ESPN 2.
The 34-year-old Malignaggi will climb into the ring with a record of 33-6 along with 7 Kos. He’s 2-2 in his last four outings with his last appearance coming in April of 2014 when he was stopped in four rounds by Shawn Porter. He was also beaten by split decision by Adrien Broner in that time period and recorded decision wins over Zab Judah and Pablo Cesar Cano. The 27-year-old Garcia has a perfect mark of 30-0 with 17 Kos to his name. His last outing was back in April when he beat former champ Lamont Peterson of Washington D.C. via a majority decision. This will be Garcia’s fourth bout since 2014.
Garcia has power in both hands, but has just one knockout in his last five fights. He’s faced some top-quality opposition over the years such as Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Mauricio Herrera, Lucas Matthysse, Kendall Holt, Nate Campbell, and Erik Morales twice. Garcia isn’t really a standout boxer, but he is solid in all areas of the game. He has good power, speed, defence, ring generalship and chin, and that’s why he’s yet to be beaten as a pro. He turned pro back in 2007 and has fought 178 rounds since then. The champion’s just over 5-feeet-8-inches tall and has a reach of 68.5 inches. Garcia’s current knockout ratio stands at 57 per cent.
Malignaggi is 5-feet-8-inches tall with a wingspan of 80 inches. He turned pro back in 2001 and has 314 rounds under his belt. He’s one of the sport’s lightest hitters with a knockout ratio of just 18 per cent. However, he makes up for his lack of power with intelligence, speed and good boxing skills. Malignaggi is a good defensive boxer due to his fine mobility and even though he’s been stopped before, he still has a pretty good chin. He’s used to going the distance and that’s likely what he’ll have to do to beat Garcia. Malignaggi has plenty of experience in big fights as he’s also taken on the likes of Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan, Juan Diaz, Lovemore N’dou, Miguel Cotto and Edner Cherry.
Prediction
Garcia doesn’t go looking for knockouts as he’s actually pretty patient. He’s also had some problems in the past with skilled boxers, such as Herrera and Judah. He has to work hard against these type of fighters and go looking for them. Malignaggi is one of the better pure boxers of this generation, but he’s also been out for 14 months. He may be the better boxer, but Garcia has more power. In addition, Malignaggi’s best years are probably behind him. Look for the challenger to win his share of rounds though and frustrate Garcia quite a bit. However, Garcia should eventually get going and take a close decision or a late stoppage.
