Can Broner Go Up Two Weights And Knock Off Malignaggi?

Recently, it has been announced that Adrien Broner, the current WBC Lightweight Champion, will jump up two divisions to face off against current WBA Welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi on the 22nd June at a venue yet to be announced in the United States.

The announcement of this title fight will have sprung a considerable surprise to fight fans around the world with Broner’s constant calling out of Britain’s WBO Lightweight fighter Ricky Burns on various social media platforms.

This new development will have stopped a clash with Broner happening unless the 29 year old Burns ends up going up the weights as well.

But also it springs a surprise that Broner has never weighed more than 10 stone [140 pounds] for a fight in his 26 fight unbeaten career and has yet to fight beyond the 10th round in his career to date, in a questionable decision against the Mexican legend Daniel Ponce de Leon.

These two things makes this match up a very risky contest in the eyes of many a knowledgeable observer of this sport.

The 32 year old Malignaggi is a brash New York stylist with excellent footwork, and hand speed but possesses very little knockout power having only scored seven stoppages in a 36 fight career that has seen him become a two-weight world champion and has scored wins against the likes of former Lightweight champion Juan Diaz, Lovemore N’Dou and most recently the Ukrainian Vyachslav Senchenko.

However, the New Yorker has four defeats on his resume which included one against Diaz in their first fight and against Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto, plus he has also been stopped by British stars Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, both in the 11th round.

The 23 year old Broner is regarded by many as the heir to Floyd Mayweather’s Pound for Pound throne and the talk has been backed by action.

In his 26 fight career, Broner has displayed blinding hand speed combined with terrific power and has shown that he is a tremendous finisher when he has his opponent in trouble, and while some of his antics in and out of the ring may be disrespectful and earn him comparisons to the British showman Prince Naseem Hamed.

The talent of Broner is there to see despite there being reservations about his stamina and chin at the moment as there would be on any prospect, even one who is already a two weight world champion and looking to become a three-weight world champion.

Come fight night, expect that Malignaggi will look to use his handspeed and work rate to try and keep Broner off balance for the opening two or three rounds as Broner assesses the WBA champion before eventually going to work and breaking Malignaggi down in a manner similar to Broner’s last fight against former British champion Gavin Rees.

Although this writer does not expect Malignaggi to be dropped, he does feel that Malignaggi does not have the power to keep the younger, stronger Broner off him and will be eventually looking to take Malignaggi’s legs out with those heavy and accurate body shots.

This could force the older Malignaggi to trade with Broner, who would be hoping that Malignaggi does not have the power to rock him, with the end result being that the Magicman does not have answer to solve the Problem that is Adrien Broner.