Paulie Malignaggi excited about comeback bout against Danny Garcia at Barclays

The result of two controversial wins against slick stylists and a gross mismatch in his last 3 fights has been that Garcia, once an entrant on many people’s pound-for-pound top 10 lists, has been reduced to a guy regarded as a bit of a diva who gets preferential treatment from judges, who also has limited skills, and has sought a safe path to move up to welterweight and put himself in position for an eventual payday against Floyd Mayweather.

After graduating from La Puente High School, Lopez attended Mt. San Antonio College and became a respiratory therapist.

It was his sixth defeat and he was badly concussed that night, which tells you something about the direction of travel his career is taking. But his love for boxing is strong, so once his contract ran out and he was free to return, he did. It’s a chance to be back in the main spotlight, be at the forefront with the kind of fights that I crave, the kind of fights that get my adrenaline flowing. After that, it wore off and I felt comfortable inside the ring.

“I completed lots at 140 kilos and I’ll do lots at 147”. “It’s going through my mind that maybe I don’t want to fight”. The Philly fighter has had a weird past year.

Lopez can draw inspiration from another San Gabriel Valley fighter – Zachary Padilla of Azusa. Padilla was out five years, came back in June 1991 and won a junior welterweight world title when he took a 12-round unanimous decision over Carlos “Bolillo” Gonzalez in June 1993 in Las Vegas.

Lopez appears to have similar resolve.

In that case, he’ll be able to cover that fight ringside for Showtime, and remind a million viewers that he knew all along that Garcia wasn’t as special as everyone said he was. “Focused on boxing and trying to reach my goal of becoming a world champion”.

“I’ve watched Paulie fight my whole career. I’ve always been dedicated to boxing, but now that I’m back, I’m fully dedicated and I’m determined”.

Undefeated light welterweight champion Danny Garcia is “ready and eager” to make his debut as a welterweight against Paulie Malignaggi at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, Manila Time.

He was thrilled he wasn’t training just to make weight. “I’ll have more agility and we’re going to go in there to get the job done”, Garcia said. I’ve quietly had one of my best training camps.

Paulie Malignaggi admits to experiencing “doubts” however is decided to upset Danny Garcia in New York on Saturday night time. Garcia has been more of a plodding power striker with a devastating left hook than a speedy volume puncher like Porter, so perhaps that’s why the late-career Malignaggi has accepted the strong possibility of getting beat up on ESPN just as his star is rising for his exploits beside the ring. In the fight, Porter, who is more than an inch shorter than Garcia, stepped on the gas through and under Paulie’s ever-effective jab to launch a heavy power assault for which the Brooklyn fighter had no answer for. And he’s facing a guy like Garcia. “I thought I was retired”, Malignaggi said recently.

“There are no excuses here”, Malignaggi said.

There’s little question Malignaggi would have outclassed O’Connor, but when a feature spot opened up against Garcia on a lucrative PBC card, Malignaggi didn’t hesitate.