By Ian S Palmer
Paulie Malignaggi, the current WBA Welterweight titleholder, takes on Mexico’s Pablo Cesar Cano at the Barclay’s Center in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 20. Cano knows the champion might have an advantage with possible hometown judging on his side and said he’s not going into the fight to lose a decision. Cano said he’s going to knock Malignaggi out to make sure he doesn’t get shafted the judging.
This tactic could actually favour the slick-boxing Malignaggi though as he may be able to counter punch the challenger and pick him apart while he’s loading up on big shots. However, Cano said he’s not going to be throwing wild punches as soon as the fight starts and will have to box intelligently and pick his spots to attack. He admitted that Malignaggi has excellent footwork and quick hands and could be hard to catch.
With a record of 31-4 and 7 knockouts, it’s quite apparent that Malignaggi lacks power. This means Cano could simply walk through him to land his shots if the champion doesn’t use his superior boxing skills to keep him at bay. Malignaggi’s chin is rock solid though and this could lead to one of the year’s most exciting fights. The 31-year-old New Yorker made his pro debut in 2001 and has been beaten twice on stoppages. Former world champions Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan, both of England managed to halt him, but he was still upright when the fights were stopped.
Malignaggi’s other losses came to two more ex-world champions in Juan Diaz and Miguel Cotto. He avenged the loss to Diaz by beating him by a decision in a rematch. It takes a world-class boxer to beat Malignaggi and at this point in his career Cano doesn’t fit that bill. Malignaggi beat Lovemore Ndou by unanimous decision in 2007 to win the IBF Junior Welterweight Championship and managed to defend it on two occasions before Hatton stopped him. He captured his current WBA crown earlier this year on the road on Ukraine with a ninth-round TKO over Vyacheslav Senchenko.
Cano is eight years younger than the champion at 23 and is 25-1-1 in the ring with 19 knockouts. He turned professional in 2006 and earned a title shot in 2011 against fellow countryman Erik Morales when the two squared off for the vacant WBC Junior Welterweight title. Morales proved to be too experienced for the youngster though and the fight was halted at the end of the 10th round. Cano has had three bouts this year already with his last contest being in July when he beat Johan Perez by a technical decision on the seventh round. The Mexican challenger has good power, but lacks in experience against quality opposition.
Malignaggi surprised most boxing fans by stopping Senchenko earlier this year since the former champion was undefeated and Malignaggi is a light puncher. It was also his first bout in the welterweight division. He will have all of the advantages against Cano since he’s fighting at home, is the champion, has a good chin, and excellent movement and boxing skills. It would be a surprise to most boxing fans if Malignaggi didn’t defend his title successfully by a decision.
