By Keith Idec

Paulie Malignaggi fought Adrien Broner four years ago and as an analyst for Showtime Sports has paid close attention to Mikey Garcia’s career.

The former junior welterweight and welterweight champion can see either fighter winning their 12-round, 140-pound fight Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Garcia is still nearly a 3-1 favorite, but Malignaggi expects Broner’s style to give Garcia problems.

Cincinnati’s Broner beat Malignaggi by split decision in their 12-rounder to win the WBA welterweight title in June 2013 at Barclays Center. Malignaggi, who’ll call the Garcia-Broner bout from ringside, left the ring that night with respect for Broner’s boxing IQ.

“I think it’s a tough fight for both guys,” Malignaggi told BoxingScene.com about Broner-Garcia. “Broner’s no dummy. Broner’s no dummy at all. Broner’s tricky. Broner’s trickier than you think a lot of times, especially for a fundamental guy. Mikey’s gonna have to come at him sometimes to hit Broner. Broner’s style is devised and developed to drive a guy who’s fundamentally perfect crazy.

“A guy like [Marcos] Maidana was hitting Broner because he’s so fundamentally awkward, he’s so difficult to time. But a guy like Mikey, he’s so good and so fundamentally sound, that he’s terrific against most fighters. But if he can’t get used to Broner, he could wind up in a situation where he’s tied up in knots because Broner is fundamental and his style is slick, designed to drive guys with proper fundamentals crazy.”

Garcia’s power, however, could become an equalizer, according to Malignaggi. The retired Brooklyn native got an up-close look at Garcia’s power when he knocked out Montenegro’s Dejan Zlaticanin (22-1, 15 KOs) in the third round to win the WBC lightweight title January 28 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“Mikey’s a hard puncher, probably one of the hardest punchers Broner has faced,” Malignaggi said. “I don’t wanna say the hardest because Broner has also faced [Marcos] Maidana, but definitely a scary puncher, especially when he knows how to achieve the point of landing the shot. He’s not just throwing it, he’s setting you up.

“But then again, Broner also has developed into a fighter who’s great at counter-punching, he’s great at making you reach and messing up your fundamentals. You pay for that. He’ll drive you crazy in that way, too. He has very fast hands. I think this fight is perfect on a lot of fronts.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.