Malignaggi Dares Broner To Try And Take His Welter Crown

Since the beginningof their professional careers, Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi and Adrien “The Problem” Broner, two of the biggest talkers in all of boxing, have never been afraid to speak up.

Now, the time has come to put up or shut up as Malignaggi will defend his WBA Welterweight Championship against undefeated Two-Division World Champion Broner on Saturday, June 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in a Showtime main event.

Plus, the heavyweight rematch the world has been waiting for is set as Johnathon Banks will look to repeat his 2012 upset win over Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell in the co-feature for Banks’ NABO and WBC International Heavyweight titles.

One of Brooklyn’s favorite fighting sons, Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) is a two-division world champion known for his lighting fast hands and even faster mouth.

He first made his mark in the 140-pound weight class when he defeated Lovemore N’dou in 2007 for the IBF crown. In 2010, Malignaggi made the move up to welterweight and in April 2012 he captured the WBA welterweight title, traveling to the Ukraine to stop Vyacheslav Senchenko in his hometown.

He has defended his belt once thus far, decisioning Pablo Cesar Cano at Barclays Center last October. Also well known for his role as color commentator on Showtime the 32-year-old who has faced the likes of Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan and Juan Diaz, will look to stop the rise of Adrien Broner a few miles from his home in Brooklyn.

At 23 years old, Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s) has captivated the boxing world with his work inside the ring and flashy charisma outside of it.

Unbeaten as a pro, with a skill set that allows him to box or bang, and possessing a warrior’s attitude and heart, Broner won the WBO junior lightweight title in 2011 with a third round knockout of Vicente Martin Rodriguez.

After knockouts of Eloy Perez and Vicente Escobedo, he moved up to 135 pounds, winning the WBC title with a thoroughly dominating eighth round technical knockout of Antonio DeMarco last November.

Most recently, Broner stopped Gavin Rees in five rounds in February, and on June 22, he will make the leap from 135 to 147 pounds to challenge “The Magic Man.” Should he win, he will join Roberto Duran, Roy Jones Jr. and Robert Guerrero as the only fighters to win a world championship in their first fight after jumping a weight class.

“Once again, we’re looking forward to bringing a blockbuster fight to Brooklyn at Barclays Center,” said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions.

“Paulie Malignaggi is the type of fighter that is not going to let anyone take his belt from him on his home turf, but he has his work cut out for him against one of the most talented fighters in the sport in undefeated rising superstar Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner.

“Add in the rematch between Johnathon Banks and Seth Mitchell and it’s safe to say that the fireworks will be flying a few weeks before the Fourth of July.”

Malignaggi vs. Broner, a 12-round fight for Malignaggi’s WBA Welterweight Championship is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T with Banks vs. Mitchell being presented in association with K2 Promotions.
The Showtime Championship Boxing telecast begins at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast and is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on Showtime Extreme at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast.

Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, go on sale Saturday, April 27 at 10:00 a.m. ET and will be available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center beginning on Saturday, April 27 at noon ET. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.

A full undercard will be announced shortly.