By Francisco Salazar
Adrien Broner moved up two weight classes and took the WBA welterweight title from Paulie Malignaggi in a 12-round, split decision at Barclays Center.
The trash-talking filled bout saw the two fighters go back and forth, but the power of Broner (27-0) proved to be the difference maker, with the 23-year-old earning card wins of 115-113 and 117-111.
The Brooklyn-born Malignaggi (32-5) was fighting in front of his home crowd, showed resiliency and earned one card win of 115-113 in going the distance, but the 32-year-old showed signs of slowing down toward the middle rounds and had trouble matching Broner's power punches.
Malignaggi landed 25 percent (214-of-843) of his punches, while Broner connected on 47 percent (246-of-524) of his.
