?Malignaggi is not a puncher. Either you?re a puncher or you?re not a puncher. Punchers are born, they?re not made?? ?If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.??Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KOs) leapfrogs two divisions to challenge Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KOs) for the latter?s WBA welterweight title.
Broner has been designated boxing?s next big thing. He is young. He is undefeated. He is also fast, strong, and has that magical sixth sense when performing in the ring.
Malignaggi is as tough as rawhide and sharp as a stiletto, but at age 32, compared to Broner?s 23, his career is winding down. It remains to be seen what if anything Paulie can do to slow the Broner juggernaut.
Wanting to get an opinion other than my own on the fight, I contacted ESPN?s Teddy Atlas at his home in Staten Island and asked what he thought about this weekend?s bout.
?I think a lot of people want to hope that the fight between Broner and Malignaggi will be an interesting one,? he said, ?and part of that hope comes from that they would just like to see Broner tested. They would like to hope that they could see Broner under a more intense light so they can see beyond the obvious. The obvious is the physical talent?but they want to see what?s inside. I think everybody hopes to get a glimpse of that. Is there something inside Broner that makes him more than just a talented guy with a big mouth, a talented guy who obviously has a lot of bravado to him? Is there more to him than that? I don?t know if they?re going to find that out.?
Leave it to Teddy to throw cold water on what is being billed as a sizzling fight. But Atlas knows the temperature, just as he knows which way the wind blows.
?The hope is that an experienced guy like Malignaggi, who is a two-time champion in two different divisions, will help provide some answers in these areas and that it will turn out to be an interesting night because of that. One of the reasons people think that Malignaggi might offer a challenge is that Broner?s stepping up in weight. But if that?s where you?re looking for your hope, that it?s going to be a compelling or challenging night for Broner, I think you?re looking in the wrong place because Malignaggi?s not really a bigger guy. They both turned pro at lightweight. Malignaggi spent most of his career, just about all his career at junior welterweight. And he only stepped up to welterweight in his last half-dozen fights. Broner?s stepping up from lightweight to welterweight and Malignaggi?s people are hoping that one of his advantages is that he?s the bigger guy and Broner?s going to be tested as a welterweight. But he?s not going to be tested as a welterweight because Malignaggi?s not really a welterweight. And he?s not really a strong welterweight. The power here is Broner. So as far as looking for hope that the size will be a difference, I think you?re looking at false shadows. I don?t think there?s any truth there at all.?
A false sun casts false shadows. If you apply that to Saturday?s fight, the possibilities are endless.
?The thing is,? continued Teddy, ?Malignaggi with his experience and mental toughness and his smarts?he?s a smart fighter, a smart guy?can he manifest a fight plan and stick to it throughout the night to give Broner problems? You know Broner?s the stronger guy, but he hasn?t really been challenged in the ways that you want to see a fighter challenged so that you can make a definitive decision on what kind of fighter they truly are and are going to be through the history of their career. Before you can do that you?d like to be able to see them challenged in certain dimensions and see how they come through those challenges. And he hasn?t been challenged at all in any of those ways?where you have to make a choice under fire, where you have to find a way to come back from adversity. That hasn?t happened. Obviously the hope is that Malignaggi can fight the kind of fight that brings about those kinds of conditions. If he?s going to do it, it has to be a little bit with his legs. But Malignaggi, with the age he?s at now, at this point in his career, doesn?t use his legs as much as he did when he was a little younger. But that doesn?t mean he can?t change distance, can?t step away, can?t step aside, can?t move to his side and use his legs enough to keep a stronger fighter off balance. That?s what he?s going to have to do.?
Broner has yet to fight any world-class fighters, so his coronation may be premature. For every Ponce De Leon and Antonio DeMarco on his ledger, there are a dozen Gavin Reeses and Jason Litzaus. But one thing all his opponents have in common is that they were there to be hit.
?Broner has shown himself to be a good offensive fighter,? Atlas said, ?but he?s gotten cooperation. Most guys who have been put in front of him have been right in front of him?and they?ve remained in front of him to the tune of 26 and 0 with 22 knockouts. So we haven?t seen how he can deal with a landscape that might shift a little from that kind of setup. Malignaggi has a good enough boxing IQ to understand that and understand what he needs to do along these lines. But it can?t be movement alone?the intelligence and experience and maturity of Malignaggi will understand this?it has to be with punches, with offense, with good balance. I think the punches have to come first, from the right distance where they give Broner something to respect, something to hold him. Then the movement comes. Not the movement and then the punches. Because if it?s the movement first, Broner can come in and close the gap and be where he wants to be to show his advantage, which will be the stronger, faster, more productive offensive fighter in the distance that makes sense to him. He?s got to be kept out of that distance. He?s got to be kept out of these positions. Malignaggi has to throw punches to hold him, use movement to keep him off balance, before he can return the favor, before he can return the fire.?
There will be no fighting fire with fire when Broner and Malignaggi meet. Paulie has his gifts, but power isn?t among them.
?One of the things that hurts Malignaggi is he?s not a puncher. Either you?re a puncher or you?re not a puncher. Punchers are born, they?re not made. He?s done a great job with his career. He?s got good hand speed. But you?re not getting into a shootout with Broner. I don?t think, if you?re going into this fight honestly and intelligently, you?re not looking to go into a shootout. You?re looking to have the advantage where you can use that speed in opportunistic ways, proper ways that make sense for you to have a little edge. Malignaggi matches up well in terms of hand speed, power he comes up short, and of course you?re dealing with a guy who hasn?t learned how to lose yet, that has that confidence, and I think that will be part, the psychological part, of the game too. Malignaggi early on will have to try to put a little dent in that confidence, to make Broner start to think, ?Okay, tonight it will be different. Tonight it is a step up. It is in a place I haven?t been in before.?
?We like to use the word ?tough? for most fighters. If they?re in the business then to a certain level they?re ?tough.? But you have to have a certain maturity too, a certain intelligence, a certain truthfulness about yourself, about what you can and cannot do, and that carries you, especially late in your career when you can?t always get it done on just physical terms. I think Malignaggi has that. The proof is in the pudding. I like Malignaggi. I think he?s been good for boxing. He?s been a voice, an honest voice when he has spoken about things he thinks that are wrong about this sport, that are improper and unfair about this sport. Sometimes he?s been very passionate about the way he?s spoken, but coming from a guy who?s spoken in passionate tones himself, I don?t hold that against him. I actually like that. I?m on his side, because he?s spoken truthful and intelligent words that have made sense.?
Not everyone agrees with Teddy. Some believe that boxers, like rowdy children, should be seen and not heard. But if no one blows the whistle, the rules of the game, such as they are, get trampled underfoot.
?This kid Broner, I like him too,? Atlas said. ?He?s cocky and I can see where he gets under people?s skin. I don?t think that?s an accident. He figures that?s kind of like from the old Ali school: I?ll get some people to come because they hate me, and I?ll get some people to come because they love me, but they?re all going to come. I think that?s part of it and I get it. But I think the jury?s still out on him as far as what he?s going to wind up being in his career. He?s definitely got the talent, and maybe the need for more maturity is still in his future?and it?s his opportunity and responsibility to grab that, to fulfill that. We?ll see how he fulfills it. We?ll see if he fulfills it. And I hope he fulfills it because with that kind of talent, if he gets that maturity coupled with it and that sense of himself where he knows who he is and he doesn?t have to rely on extremes to get people?s attention, if he can just be comfortable with who he is and then find a place that he can have all the bravado that he feels is part of him, all the confidence that he feels is illustrative of who he is, he can have all these things in proper dosages and dosages that people can feel comfortable with and feel good about. Much like Ali did. He was a brash young guy, a great, great talent. It?s almost unfair to use them in the same sentence because Ali went to the places he went, which were far beyond just the boxing ring. But still, there are certain comparisons you can look at. Ali traveled his journey. He matured along the way. And even the people who were not necessarily fans of his, later on, if they didn?t become fans of his they gave him his due as far as respect.?
I wasn?t expecting Atlas to compare Broner to Ali, but I learned long ago to expect the unexpected where Teddy is concerned.
?The hope for me is that Broner can get to that place. And like I said Malignaggi has been good for boxing, I think Broner will be good for boxing, because a guy with that talent, that confidence, can and should be very good for boxing. He really should be?and I hope he is. I hope he becomes all the things that it is possible for him to become, in what way and whatever those things are. But having said all that, I think the young gun, the young talent, probably wins Saturday night. He probably steps up when he has to step up.
?I?m going to say YES, there is something inside him. I?m also going to say YES, that Malignaggi?s going to have the right plan, especially early in the fight, and that he?s going to stretch the playing field a little more than it?s been stretched for Broner so far and it?s going to force Broner to go into his playbook a little bit more than he?s gone into his playbook so far and show us what?s in it. Does Broner have another gear to him? Does he have the ability to adapt to something that may present a problem to him? I?m going to say we?ll find the answer somewhere around the sixth round, and the answer is going to be yes. He?s going to make those adjustments and he?s going to wind up winning the fight.?
