?Representing Brooklyn with this belt has been something I?m very proud of,? said Malignaggi. ?I relish the competitive spirit of being able to defend it against another quality Brooklyn fighter like Gabriel Bracero. I fight for Brooklyn and I represent Brooklyn with everything I?ve got each time I step into the ring and on July 30 it will be no different.??Malignaggi
??Growing up in Brooklyn is what has made me the man and the fighter that I am today. I respect Paulie for giving me this opportunity, for putting his belt on the line and everything he?s done in his career. On July 30 though, that belt is coming home with me. I will be the new champion of Brooklyn.??Bracero
?Malignaggi-Bracero figures not only to be a highly competitive fight, but is truly a battle of Brooklyn,? — Lou DiBella,
Former two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi (35-7) is set to defend Brooklyn?s ?World Championship? Belt in a 10-round welterweight bout against fellow Brooklyn-native Gabriel Bracero on July 30 in a showdown of two-feather-fisted boxers. The 35-year-old Malignaggi will return to Barclays Center for the fifth time.
Bracero (24-2) comes off of a newsreel one-punch knockout of rival Danny O?Connor in their rematch this past October and has beaten the likes of Dimity Salita and Pavel Miranda, but he only has 5 knockouts on his ledger, though Paulie s not exactly heavy-handed.. Gabe?s KO of Danny was quick (41 seconds), scary, and totally unexpected in front of a silenced and shocked pro-O?Connor crowd in Lowell, MA. See: http://www.nbcsports.com/video/bracero-stuns-crowd-knocks-out-oconnor-41-seconds But it was an anomaly.
The ?Magic Man have never shied from big name opponents throughout his career and has wins over Zab Judah, Vyacheslav Senchenko and Pablo Cesar Cano.
So how will this play out? Will this be the end for Paulie?
Hardly, the thinking here is a bore-fest that will allow the Magic Man to fight on for whatever reason.
