by Cliff Rold
Who is Danny Garcia?
Is he the underdog who put on a show in upsetting Lucas Matthysse to establish his place as the leader at Jr. Welterweight? Or is he the guy with the right people around him to keep an undefeated mark when it looked lost a couple of times?
Like most top fighters, Garcia probably isn’t quite as good as his best night or as vulnerable as his worst. In two of three fights since the Matthysse win, there were sizable populations of viewers who saw him losing to Mauricio Herrera and Lamont Peterson. In between, he blew out Rod Salka in one of the worst mismatches to main event a premium cable network this decade.
If nothing else, right now Garcia looks like a guy who lost all the momentum the Matthysse win seemed to give him. A win alone this Saturday probably does little to recapture it. After consecutive catchweight contests, Garcia is tackling the Welterweight division fully against former titlist Paulie Malignaggi.
The name is recognizable. Malignaggi’s last outing colors the contest. Inactive since an April 2014 beating at the hands of Shawn Porter, Malignaggi will be assumed by many to be a spent, older fighter. The tricky New Yorker has fooled before, creating two quandaries for Garcia:
Can he win, and can he look good doing it?
The answers provided Saturday (ESPN, 9 PM EST/6 PM PST) will go a long way towards determining who the fans think Garcia is in any future endeavors.
Let’s go the report card.
The Ledgers
Danny Garcia
Age: 27
Title: WBA “Super” Super Lightweight (2012-Present, 4 Defenses); Lineal/TBRB/Ring Jr. Welterweight (2013-Present, 1 Defense)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’9
Weight: 146.6 lbs.
Hails from: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Record: 30-0, 17 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 6-0, 2 KO
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 6 (Nate Campbell UD10; Kendall Holt SD12; Erik Morales UD12, KO4; Amir Khan TKO4; Zab Judah UD12; Lamont Peterson MD12)
Vs.
Paulie Malignaggi
Age: 34
Title: None
Previous Titles: IBF Super Lightweight (2007-08, 2 Defenses); WBA Welterweight (2012-13, 1 Defense)
Height: 5’8
Weight: 146.8 lbs.
Hails from: Brooklyn, New York
Record: 33-6, 7 KO, 3 KOBY
Rankings: Unrated
Record in Major Title Fights: 5-5, 1 KO, 3 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 9 (Miguel Cotto L12; Lovemore N’Dou UD12, SD12; Ricky Hatton TKO by 11; Juan Diaz L12, UD12; Amir Khan TKO by 11; Vyacheslav Senchenko TKO9; Adrien Broner L12; Zab Judah UD12; Shawn Porter TKO by 4)
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Garcia B; Malignaggi B+
Pre-Fight: Power – Garcia B; Malignaggi C-
Pre-Fight: Defense – Garcia B; Malignaggi B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Garcia B+/Malignaggi B+
The one thing Garcia doesn’t have to worry about is being knocked out. Stranger things have happened, but Malignaggi stopping Garcia with a flashy power shot sounds a little absurd. Malignaggi has only two stoppage wins since 2003. Does Malignaggi still have the legs to make a go of this?
The Porter fight might be misleading. Porter is a bull in the ring and simply overwhelmed Malignaggi. Of Malignaggi’s stoppage losses, two came to pressure fighters (Porter and Hatton) and the other came against the longer, much quicker Khan who let loose when Malignaggi offered nothing to fear.
Garcia doesn’t have Khan’s speed nor is he big on pressure. Garcia isn’t that sort of fighter. He’s more comfortable boxing and countering against better foes, willing to exchange when necessary. Garcia’s left hook is dangerous but that danger is inconsistent. It wasn’t a physical factor against Herrera or Peterson.
Garcia has shown some tendency to fight to the level of opposition, performing better when he (and the world) perceive more danger. If that is the case here, Garcia could get some real work. Malignaggi is a real veteran and, prior to Porter, was on a bit of a roll. While lucky to escape the Pablo Cesar Cano, Malignaggi had strong showings against Senchenko, Broner, and Judah.
If his time off recharged him rather than put rust on Malignaggi, his quick hands, angles, and his own countering ability could provide Garcia with riddles all night.
The Pick
They just don’t look like riddles Garcia can’t solve. Without a serious power threat, Garcia will be able to force the fight more than he could against someone like Peterson who notably hurt him to the body when Peterson opted to forge forward. Malignaggi isn’t going to sit in the pocket and pick away like Herrera did either. He’s likely to be at medium range often where Garcia can look to land the hook and find openings to the body. He won’t likely look great all night, but Garcia will win. Regardless of the court of public opinion, as long as he keeps doing that, another Matthysse like moment is only the right fight away. The pick is Garcia by decision.
Report Card and Staff Picks 2015: 61-15
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com