Paulie Malignaggi gets ready for big fight against undefeated Danny Garcia

That’s the main event on a Premier Boxing Champions card that also includes Daniel Jacobs (29-1, 26 KOs), who holds a secondary WBA middleweight title (beneath “Super” champion Gennady Golovkin), against former world champion Sergio Mora (28-3-2, 9 KOs). Suffice to say, Malignaggi does not lack for courage.

“This kind of opportunity just fell into my lap”, said Malignaggi.

Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi has been a professional for 15 years now. But it was nearly like pleasantly surprised. Garcia, along with his dad, can do a lot of talking, and so far Danny has not lost in the ring, despite public opinion. “I’m not focused on the negativity at all”. While Malignaggi isn’t exactly a top-10 welterweight, he is an experienced fighter with a big name. “I think there’s no question. Or one who is 27-years-old like me?” The fact Garcia struggled in two of his past three bouts, winning a majority decision over Mauricio Herrera while defending his WBA and WBC 140-pound titles 18 months ago and then escaping with a majority decision over Lamont Peterson in a non-title bout at a 143-pound catchweight last April, might have fueled Malignaggi’s confidence.

“Everything is better at 147 [pounds]”, he said.

Paulie Malignaggi gets in the ring for the first time in 16 months Saturday. “My last fight in May, I felt rusty in the beginning, in the first round”. As long as Garcia continues to win, one thing he has said this week would appear to be true, “I feel like how he feels”, as he spoke about him being next in line after Floyd Mayweather retires. But I’m here now and I feel good. Now that he’s going to be a 147-pounder, he expects to be much stronger and faster. I doubt he’ll be accepted into Mensa any time soon, but in this corner’s opinion, Paulie’s meld of performance and entertainment betrays a guy with some mental chops. For the most part, making 140 pounds was not much of a chore. Unable to miss with his signature punch, the left hook, in the second half of the fight, Garcia began to walk down the visually impaired Matthysse and eventually scored a devastating knockdown in the 11th round to secure the points win on the scorecards.

Despite there being clear favorites Saturday, you never know and that’s why these guys get in the ring. “I just have to go in there and stick to business”. The art of the hoax, as Barnum knew, is not just in the first act of deception, but in getting people to pay over and over to preen in their moral outrage over how obviously fake the hoax is.

It’s hard for an athlete in any sport to be away for three years, but it’s especially hard for a fighter to do that because of the sheer danger of this sport. At 34 years old, he’s milder and wiser, and he has respect for Garcia. I’m not 24. I don’t really have that kind of patience anymore.

Malignaggi told World Boxing News: “This is a big opportunity from me, professionally and personally”. I’m not looking at it as having any advantages.

The collective groan among boxing fans for this fight comes not only for these bald pretensions but also for the unoriginality of the style clash. “It’s going through my mind that maybe I don’t want to fight”, he stated. “He gave me the call”. Aside from that, though, there’s something to this fight that makes it compelling. I don’t choose the opponent.

On paper, there’s no way Brooklyn’s Magic Man can win this fight. Garcia’s ability to damage tougher past foes like Matthysse with one punch bodes ill for Malignaggi, who faces twelve rounds of moving if he wants to avoid the sudden fate that befell him against Porter. “On Saturday at Barclays Center, you’re going to see a spectacular Danny Garcia”. I think he’s a phenomenal fighter. “But in reality, I actually haven’t trained this consistently in a decade, literally a decade”. And he grew on me.

None of the fighters he’s beaten during his current streak compare to Jacobs in overall skill and athleticism. That’s why I do this.