By Keith Idec
Lou DiBella knows as well as anyone that underestimating Paulie Malignaggi’s ability to upset Danny Garcia on Saturday night would be a mistake.
DiBella promoted Malignaggi for much of the brash Brooklyn native’s 14-year pro career and closely watched him overcome odds numerous times on his way to becoming a two-division world champion. The 34-year-old Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) hasn’t fought since Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) knocked him out in the fourth round of their April 2014 welterweight title fight in Washington, D.C., but DiBella believes he’ll still give Garcia (30-0, 17 KOs) trouble in their 12-round main event Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (ESPN; 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
“This is a very tough fight,” said DiBella, whose company is the promoter of record for this Premier Boxing Champions card. “Danny has looked a bit vulnerable in his past few fights and he is moving up in weight to fight a real-deal welterweight. Say what you want about Paulie, but you cannot question his heart or his desire to win. Paulie is comfortable being an underdog. He has been an underdog his whole life. With Paulie, you know you will never get anything less than 110 percent.”
Philadelphia’s Garcia, 27, is a 12-1 favorite over Malignaggi entering a fight that’ll officially mark the former WBA/WBC junior welterweight champion’s move up to welterweight.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.