August 1 , 2015 Danny Garcia vs Paulie Malignaggi at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Danny Garcia vs Paulie Malignaggi Recap
It was 8 rounds of punishment for Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi at the gloves of Danny “Swift” Garcia. Garcia has been 31-0 with 18KO against Malignaggi 33-7 record. The official record shows Garcia by a ninth-round TKO. But referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. called the fight.
Garcia was aggressively chasing Maglignaggi, missing a lot of the punishes he was throwing. However, Malginaggi wasn’t firing back, critics said he had no offense and hit Garcia very few times. He had a major decrease in output from his previous 62 punch round average down to a 39 punch round average.
Referee
Right before the final round, Mercante could be overhead telling Malignaggi that he wasn’t going to let him take much more. Mercante called it. It was a fight that was not going anywhere and it was clear Garcia was the victor. At the calling of the fight, Mercante told Paulie he had seen enough and stopped the fight.
Aftermath for Malignaggi
Malignaggi acknowledged the decision to call the fight was the right one. Anyone looking at the beating he had just taken could agree. When a reporter from SportsCenter asked him if it was his last fight he told them, “probably.” Adding that he had started his career in Brooklyn and it was a good place to end it.
Critics state Malignaggi is past his boxing prime at 34 years old. But, they also state he is a fighter who fights with the heart of a undefeated fighter. He has a career waiting for him as a boxing analyst. His critics and some of his fans are hoping that is the route he will take next.
Aftermath for Garcia
Garcia won. But the stories don’t seem to be about him. Critics note he has to start taking on tougher opponents. While he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr., critics noted his misses against Malignaggi and see a fight with Mayweather as a one sided fight and not in Garcia’s favor.
Some future fights for Garcia might include a rematch with Amir Khan. A fight with Adrien Broner, Keith Thurman, or Porter could be in the future. But maybe not Mayweather, just yet.
