An
intriguing doubleheader will take place on Saturday night as part of the latest
Premier Boxing Champions card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The
card, which will be broadcast by ESPN in the United States, could have an
impact on both the Middleweight and Welterweight divisions. The first half of
this doubleheader will feature a bout to determine interim/regular champion
status in the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Middleweight ratings as the WBA’s
top Middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs will take on former WBC Jr. Middleweight
world champion Sergio Mora in a bout scheduled for twelve rounds.
Jacobs,
who will enter the fight with a record of 29-1, with 26 Knockouts is coming off
of a twelfth round stoppage over top contender Caleb Truax in April of this
year. In that fight Jacobs had some difficulty for a time in the early rounds,
but as the fight went on he was able to gradually break Truax down to earn a
stoppage in the final round. Jacobs, a fighter with a career knockout
percentage of 87% is known for his punching power and has knocked out his last
nine opponents.
Jacobs
will face a potential difficult opponent in former WBC Jr. Middleweight world
champion Sergio Mora. Mora, who will enter the fight with a record of 28-3-2,
with 9 Knockouts is riding a five fight win streak entering this fight. Mora
was to have challenged for the IBF Middleweight world championship in his last
fight in February of this year, but ended up being a victim of bad
circumstances as then champion Jermain Taylor’s legal troubles as well as an
injury he suffered in training led to the cancellation of that fight and the
eventual stripping of Taylor’s world championship by the International Boxing
Federation (IBF).
Despite
the cancellation of that fight, Mora fought on and scored a twelve round split
decision over Abraham Han. In what was a competitive fight Mora was able to
execute his offense in spurts and was able to make an aggressive Han miss
frequently with his offense. Although Mora on this fight convincingly in the
eyes of this observer to win the vacated United States Boxing Association (USBA)
Middleweight championship, he did suffer a knockdown in the tenth round and
fought an opponent in Han who was aggressive from start to finish.
The story
of this fight in my eyes is a battle between Jacobs’ punching power and ability
to get an opponent out of there at any point during a fight versus Mora’s
ability to execute his offense in spurts, but also nullify his opponent’s
offensive rhythm with his ability to be elusive and counter punch. The key to
this fight in my eyes will be whether or not Mora will be able to avoid Jacobs’
power for the full twelve rounds.
It is
logical to assume that Mora will look to out box Jacobs and win the fight on
points. The Brooklyn born and based Jacobs however, will have the support of
the hometown crowd and it will be interesting to see if Mora will be able to
take the crowd out of the fight as it progresses. Although Jacobs has a clear
power advantage over Mora, who has only scored nine knockouts in his
twenty-eight career wins, Mora is the kind of fighter that has the ability to
make an opponent look bad even if Mora is not at his best. It is also important
to remember that Mora has never been stopped in his career.
It will be
interesting to see whether Jacobs will look to score a knockout early in this
fight or if he will attempt to wear down Mora and look to stop him in the later
rounds. For Mora to be successful in this fight he must find a way to nullify
Jacobs’ power, controlled the tempo of the fight, and win rounds convincingly.
Jacobs meanwhile needs to find a way to nullify Mora’s movement and cut the
ring off from the outset. This fight has the classic makings of a boxer versus
a puncher.
It will be
interesting to see where the winner of this fight will factor in, in a talent
deep Middleweight division. It may be logical to assume that the winner of this
fight could find himself in position to challenge the winner of the upcoming
Middleweight unification clash between undefeated WBA/IBO champion Gennady
Golovkin and recently crowned IBF world champion David Lemieux, which will take
place on October 17th.
The second
half of this doubleheader will be a twelve round Welterweight bout between
undefeated WBA Jr. Welterweight world champion Danny Garcia and former two-division
world champion Paul Malignaggi. Garcia, who previously held both the WBC and
WBA world titles in the Jr. Welterweight division is moving up in weight
officially to the 147lb. Welterweight division after fighting his previous two
fights at catch weights above the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division.
Garcia,
who will enter this fight with a record of 30-0, with 17 Knockouts is coming
off a twelve round majority decision over former IBF Jr. Welterweight world
champion Lamont Peterson in April of this year. Although Garcia is undefeated
he has had some difficulty in fights in the past, most notably against top Jr. Welterweight
contender Mauricio Herrera in March of last year. Many observers felt that
Herrera deserved the decision. Garcia also had difficulty in his last fight
against Lamont Peterson, but was able to win that fight more convincingly in this
observer’s eyes based on his ability to dictate how the fight was fought and outwork
Peterson over the course of the fight.
Garcia is
a boxer/puncher who is capable of out boxing an opponent and also capable of
scoring devastating knockouts most notably in his fight against Amir Khan and
in his rematch with future Hall of Famer Erik Morales. It will be interesting
to see how Garcia will look as a full-fledged Welterweight. Although Garcia is
still the WBA world champion in the Jr. Welterweight division as of this writing,
it is logical to assume that if he is successful in his first official fight as
a Welterweight that this move up in weight could be permanent.
Garcia
faces what could be a difficult test in the form of former two division world
champion Paul Malignaggi. Malignaggi, who will enter this fight with a record
of 33-6, with 7 Knockouts has fought many of the best fighters of his era. An
argument can be made however, that despite being a former two division world
champion, Malignaggi has come up short in some of his biggest fights against
the likes of current WBC Middleweight world champion Miguel Cotto, former multi-division
world champion Adrien Broner, and former Jr. Welterweight world champion Amir
Khan.
In his
last fight, Malignaggi was stopped in four rounds by former IBF Welterweight
world champion Shawn Porter in April of last year. An argument could be made
that Malignaggi could be fighting for his career in this fight against Danny
Garcia. Malignaggi has earned recognition in his second career for his work as
a Boxing broadcaster and one may wonder what he has left to give as a fighter
after a fine career.
The
question going into this fight in my eyes will center on what versions of the
fighters show up. In one corner will stand Danny Garcia, a fighter who has at times
looked spectacular, but a fighter who has also had difficulty in recent fights
that has led to some criticism from fans and experts alike. Standing across the
ring from Garcia will be Paul Malignaggi, a fighter who at his best can
befuddle opponents with his ability to use angles, his elusiveness, and
combination punching. It will be interesting however, to see what kind of
effect the knockout at the hands of Shawn Porter has had on Malignaggi. In that
fight Porter’s power and physical style overwhelmed Malignaggi. On that night
Malignaggi simply had no answer to deal with Porter and after suffering two
knockdowns in the fourth round, the fight was stopped.
It will be
interesting to see whether or not Garcia attempts to test Malignaggi from the
outset by looking to land power punches. The key to this fight will be whether
or not Malignaggi will be able to execute his offense in spurts and use his
elusiveness and angles to avoid Garcia’s offense. If Garcia however, can
neutralize Malignaggi’s movement and outwork Malignaggi it will be to Garcia’s
advantage.
Although much like Daniel Jacobs, crowd support will likely be in
favor of the Brooklyn born and based Malignaggi, Malignaggi has come up short
in a previous outing at the Barclays Center when he lost a very close twelve
round split decision and the WBA Welterweight world championship to Adrien
Broner in June 2013. It will be interesting to see if Garcia can take the crowd
out of the fight early on. If Malignaggi however, can find a way to execute his
offense and be effective, it would not surprise this observer to see this fight
end in a close decision.
Since the
Premier Boxing Champions series debuted earlier this year, the Boxing world has
been treated to several well-matched competitive fights across several
different networks on both broadcast and cable television. This card will
likely continue that tradition as this doubleheader features two well-matched
bouts with some interesting storylines. No matter the outcome of these two
fights, this observer believes that it will be an entertaining evening of Boxing.
Who will emerge victorious? We will find out on Saturday, August 1st.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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