Danny Garcia sends Paulie Malignaggi into retirement with 9th-round stoppage
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - One man's career is moving onward and upward at a new weight, and the other's career is effectively over.
Danny Garcia handled Paulie Malignaggi with ease in his welterweight debut, pummeling his foe in a ninth-round stoppage (time of 2:22) before 7,237 fans at Barclays Center, the main event of PBC on ESPN.
Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. cradled Malignaggi after he was systematically broken down to likely signal the end of the former two-division champion's career. Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs), however, is now tossed into one of boxing's best divisions and a load of top 147-pounders would make for great fights.
"It was my first fight at 147, so my dad wanted me to be sharp," said Garcia, the former lineal junior welterweight champion. "He wanted me to throw more straight punches. I was trying to catch him underneath with body shots, but he's a tough fighter. Overall we came here and executed the game plan."
Malignaggi (33-7, 7 KOs) was emotional, but didn't protest the conclusion, then found his stool and sat on it, blood covering his right eye, a massive blob of red draped on his left midsection.
He fought back tears and had just absorbed one of the worst beatings of his career. At 34 years old, he's seen far better days.
The Brooklynite was able to stick and move at times, but simply didn't possess the same reflexes and athleticism that brought him to this level. Now, he will contemplate retirement following a stoppage loss for the second consecutive year and said he will "probably not" fight again.
"I felt like if I didn't come up with a big performance tonight it would be my last performance," said Malignaggi, who almost called it a career after a fourth-round TKO to Shawn Porter last year. "I kept thinking, 'don't give in, don't give in, because this is your last night if you give in.' Little by little he broke me down. It was a good stoppage."
Paulie concentrated his attack on Garcia's midsection and darted in and out with quick, flashy shots. He ducked and dipped under Garcia's big shots, but the Philadelphian was able to effectively cut the ring off and connect with power shots.
"Swift" cut Malignaggi over the right eye in Round 3 and below the eye in Round 6 and made one thing clear throughout the night: he wanted the knockout. He wound up with big shots and whenever he landed, there was a resounding thud that echoed throughout the pro-Paulie arena.
The undefeated power puncher was able to stalk his foe and land his trademark left hook with seeming ease. And when Malignaggi did connect, there was no snap on the shots of a fighter known for being a light hitter.
Malignaggi was tagged a few times in Round 1 and slapped his chest to prove he took it well. Questions, of course, lingered about his punch resistance after he was stopped by Porter, and Paulie absorbed the shots. But he simply took too many.
Garcia patiently stalked and set up his punches while Malignaggi sought to sidestep his opponent. But on this night, Malignaggi dispensed with his trademark jab. He landed just 52 shots with his money punch and was unable to dictate the pace.
"I'm really proud of Danny, he did what he had to do," said Angel Garcia, Danny's father and trainer. "He went in there and retired Paulie Malignaggi. If Paulie was my son or family member, I would tell him to retire."
Malignaggi was hit with a scary amount of power shots in Round 8 - hooks, crosses, uppercuts, shots to the midsection. Malignaggi couldn't avoid the attack and was pushed from pillar to post. The New York State Athletic Commission took a long, hard look at Malignaggi following the frame, but allowed the fight to continue.
Nothing would change.
Malignaggi, who wore black and green trunks, was slated to fight the lightly regarded Danny O'Connor in May, but was forced to withdraw after he suffered a nasty cut over his left eye in sparring.
"The Magic Man" has fought some of the best in the sport but came up short each time. He was stopped by the likes of Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton but has always given a good account of himself in the ring.
He has a cushy job as an analyst for Showtime and CBS and is financially secure. But the Italian-American missed the sport and was confident he had more left to give. He was wrong.
Garcia was the unified champion at 140 pounds but felt the move up in weight would improve his legs late in fights. And according to him, the extra pounds helped. He earned a controversial decision win over Mauricio Herrera last year and then struggled down the stretch in a razor-thin split-decision victory over Lamont Peterson earlier this year.
Garcia has always been underappreciated but owns two massive victories on his resume: a knockout of Amir Khan and a decision win over Lucas Matthysse. If Garcia keeps winning, no one will be able to doubt him again.
What's next, Garcia was asked, hearing the names of Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter.
"Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter are good fighters," Garcia said. "I'm a great fighter. I'm in this division. Al Haymon's my manager. If he wants to make those fights happen we can make those fights happen."