This weekend Erik "El Terrible" Morales (52-8; 36 KO) and Danny "Swift" Garcia (24-0' 15 KO) headline a star-studded card by Golden Boy Promotions.
WBA Welterweight Champion, Paulie Malignaggi (31-4; 7 KO) will make a homecoming title defense against the up and coming Pablo Cesar Cano (25-1-1; 19 KO) in a 12 round bout for Malignaggi's WBA Welterweight Championship. Malignaggi is coming off his finest moment as a professional, traveling to the Ukraine and beating Vyacheslav Senchenko vio TKO. Not many gave "The Magic Man" a chance against the undefeated Senchenko but Malignaggi dug down deep to shock the Boxing world. Malignaggi is not known for being much of a puncher with only seven knockouts of his 31 victories. But on that night Malignaggi was masterful with counter punches and combinations keeping Senchenko in check before finally ending the bout in the ninth round. Malignaggi was rewarded with his first title defense in his backyard of Brooklyn, NY at the brand new Barclays Center against Cano.
Cano burst on the scene on the under card of the Mayweather/Ortiz card when he took on Morales. Cano gave Morales trouble early in the fight but the veteran adjusted and taught the youngin' a Boxing lesson winning by decision. Cano comes into the bout looking to spoil a special night for Malignaggi. Cano is hungry and seems to have the fire and fight in his eyes. It's a tough one to call before the bout because we have seen what a determined young fighter can do to a experienced veteran in the past. But Malignaggi still has years of fights left in him at the age of 31 and I feel will start a lengthy title defense reign starting with Cano.
Randall Bailey (43-7; 37 KO) and Devon Alexander (23-1; 13 KO) will finally get it on after the original date of September 8 at The Joint in Las Vegas was scratched due to Bailey suffering a back injury while sparring in preparation for the fight. The Bout will be for Bailey's IBF Welterweight Championship as Alexander looks to win his second title in two different weight classes.
The challenger, Alexander is coming off a display of dominance over Argentinian Marcos Maidana in his first fight as a welterweight. Alexander overwhelmed Maidana with power and speed almost seemingly landing his lead right hook at will.
The last time we saw Bailey, he viciously knocked out Mike Jones in a snooze-fest of a fight, winning the vacant IBF Welterweight title. The two will finally get it on and Bailey is looking to add another KO to his record as Alexander is out to prove to the world that the win over Maidana at 147 pounds wasn't a fluke.
In the main event of the fight, Morales looks for a bit of revenge against Garcia. The two fought back in March 24, Garcia won the bout via unanimous decision. Morales had gallbladder surgery in December, forcing him to withdraw from the original date of January 28. El Terrible recovered, but didn't really look in the best of shape we have seen the fearless Mexican warrior in before. He weighed in two pounds over the the 140 weight limit the day before the fight. Since he failed to make weight, he was stripped of his WBC Junior Welterweight Championship.
The fight started slow and Morales was able to dictate the pace, even busting Garcia's nose and face with his trademark combinations of a stiff jab and straight right hand. But speed was in Garcia's favor the whole night, in the later rounds, Garcia would even keep Morales at bay by forcing him on the ropes and delivering shots that made us wince watching Morales taking the shots. Garcia went on to knocking down El Terrible, but he got back up and finished the fight on his feet. Garcia won the fight by landslide margins on the scorecards. I personally had the fight much closer than the judges did.
Garcia's performance earned him a shot at Amir Khan's WBA Super World Light-Welterweight Champion in a unification bout. Garcia was the underdog coming into the fight as many people gave the edge to Khan. Khan seemed to outclass Garcia in the first two rounds, utilizing his speed. Then late in the third round, Garcia caught Khan with a counter left hook, and knocked him down. Khan was able to survive the round as he was saved by the bell. In the next round, Garcia dropped Khan two times prompting the referee to step in and stop the bout.
This fight has a few implications that could affect the future of Boxing. If Garcia wins, that would be his third victory this year and would easily propel him into the marquee group of the Junior Welterweight division with names like Lucas Matthyse, Brandon Rios, and Juan Manuel Marquez. A big fight with any of those names could be on the horizon, with a fight against Matthyse the most likely as they share the same promoter. I wont even get into the Golden Boy/Top Rank fiasco.
If Morales wins, where does he go from here? Will he retire, and exit the sport on top and at his own will? Will he make one final championship run and fight somebody like Matthyse (whom he was supposed to fight, but injury forced him to fight Cano) or Marquez. A fight between the two has been rumored since their days of sharing the featherweight division during the glory days when Marco Antonio Barerra, Manny Pacquiao, Marquez, and Morales were the cream of the crop. Negotiations have broken off a few times before between the camps, and looks more difficult now with Marquez worrying about a December bout with Pacquiao and Morales' eyes set on Garcia this Saturday.
If you're a Boxing fan, you may not want to miss this fight. The action will certainly make this fight a Fight of the Year candidate and for all we know, it could be the last time we ever see Morales lace up the gloves in a Boxing ring.
My Predictions
- Devon Alexander will outbox the free swinging Randall Bailey and overcome a knockdown to win via unanimous decison.
-Paulie Malignaggi will retain his WBA belt by withstanding a young and hungry Pablo Cesar Cano. I want to say Malignaggi wiins via TKO, but I'll go the safe route and say majority decision.
- I'm really hoping Erik Morales knocks out Danny Garcia.
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