Nicklaus Flaz-Tiger Johnson winner to take a title soon, says Paulie Malignaggi

The essence of ProBoxTV bouts is captured in Friday’s main event pitting welterweights Nicklaus Flaz and Delante “Tiger” Johnson, says analyst and the division’s former titlist Paulie Malignaggi.

“The winner of this fight will be a welterweight champion,” Malignaggi said while dissecting the bout on Thursday’s episode of “BoxingScene Today.” “Both of these guys could win a title,” he also said. “They’re better than some of the champions.”

Although the belts belong to Brian Norman Jnr (WBO), Lewis Crocker (IBF), Mario Barrios (WBC) and Rolando “Rolly” Romero (WBA), Flaz, 29, and Johnson, 27, will showcase their potential in the main event of ProBoxTV’s Friday night card in Lakeland, Florida.

Analyst and former 140lbs titleholder Chris Algieri said he’s especially impressed with Flaz’s flow – as if he fights with headphones on to ensure an undisrupted rhythm.

“He’s the kind of guy who sets the tone early with that vibrant movement. … He’s offensively and defensively flawless,” Algieri said of Flaz, 15-2 (10 KOs), who is ranked 10th by the IBF and 11th by the WBO. 

Yet Johnson’s amateur pedigree and technique, which made him a 2021 Olympic quarterfinalist, has the Top Rank fighter off to a 16-0 start with seven knockouts.

“Fundamentals rule everything,” Algieri said. “It’s a very interesting stylistic matchup. ‘Tiger’ says he’s seen everything. If Flaz gets this into a firefight …”

That undeterred activity of Flaz is difficult to obstruct, and “BoxingScene Today” host Jimmy Smith said it reminds him of what Antonio Tarver said about dealing with the ever-active Roy Jones Jnr – you’ve got to throw sticks into the spokes of the bicycle wheel to alter the busy fighter’s plans.

“Then the person [Flaz, in this case] starts to ask, ‘Can I get back into this rhythm?’ I’m sure ‘Tiger’ Johnson understands that’s what needs to be done,” Malignaggi said. “But saying it and doing it are two different things. If someone can do it, it’s [Johnson].”

Flaz’s progression with ProBoxTV counts TKO triumphs in three of his past four bouts since the start of 2024. Johnson was made available as Top Rank operates without a broadcast deal after closing its union with ESPN in July.

“This fight has excited me from the time I found out we had it,” Malignaggi said. “I am smitten by these fighters. It’s beautiful boxing.”

Johnson’s task of compromising Flaz’s activity would have an extra benefit of diminishing his output, Malignaggi said.

“Guys become spectators when they get hit and miss [punches],” Algieri said. “Can Flaz do that to Johnson? Is Johnson really the goods? Is Flaz on a different level? Can he turn Johnson into a spectator?”

That prompted Malignaggi to project that the winner will one day wear a welterweight belt.

“The standard of the division … is kind of weak,” he said.

Also on the card that begins at 6 p.m. ET on Friday on ProBoxTV’s YouTube channel is a bantamweight fight between Japan’s Katsuma Akitsugi, 13-0 (3 KOs), and the Philippines’ Vincent Astrolabio, 20-5 (15 KOs), and who was knocked out in the first round of his title shot against then-champion Junto Nakatani in July 2024.

“Akitsugi comes to fight and he’s raising his level of competition,” Malignaggi said. “Asian rivalries can become a turf war.”

Algieri noted how Akitsugi has been hardened by gym wars while training in Los Angeles, and Malignaggi said he has witnessed the transformation with a knockout, a stoppage and a convincing victory on the scorecards during Akitsugi’s past three ProBox bouts.

“High output, creative shot selection – it’s very impressive,” Malignaggi said.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.