Last Saturday night Adrien Broner made his debut at Welterweight and captured the WBA title held by Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7KOs) winning a split decision with scores of scores 115-113 – Broner, 115-113-Malignaggi, 117-111 – Broner. The fight was well attended (over 11,000) and was held at the Barclay’s center in Brooklyn, New York.
The bad blood between both fighters was evident before, during, and after the fight with both camps resorting to insults and name calling. The fight itself was lacking drama although there was a lot of tension between fighters. Malignaggi did his best to outbox Broner and avoid getting caught with any dangerous punches, and Broner fought in spurts but landed the harder shots throughout the match.
At the post fight press conference a very upset Malignaggi lashed at one of the judges who scored the fight 117-111 for Broner calling him incompetent, among other things. Paulie admitted the fight was close but felt Broner should have done more to take his title.
Malignaggi dismissed Broner as a great fighter and felt that Broner was an ordinary fighter and was there to be hit all night.
On the other hand Broner felt he did what he was supposed to do in beating Malignaggi and felt very comfortable fighting at Welterweight. When asked if Malignaggi surprised him by attacking his body he replied, “He hit me?”. There was no indication that he would stay at welterweight or fight in other divisions, but he did mention that he would allow the fans to pick his next opponent, except one (Floyd Mayweather). As for Broner’s next opponent it was mentioned that Maidana could be in the mix but nothing was confirmed.
In the Co-main event, Seth Mitchell (29-1-1, 19 KOs) won via UD with scores of 115-112, 117-109, 114-112 in the rematch against Johnathana Banks. What promised to be a fight full of fireworks turned out to be more of a tactical fight after the 3rd round. Banks started strong and hurt Mitchell a couple of times, but he seemed to back off after the 3rd round and Mitchell took over the fight from that instance.
Main Event:
Broner made his debut at Welterweight and captured the WBA Belt by defeating Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7KOs) loses via split decision against Adrien Broner ≈. Judges’ scores 115-113 – Broner, 115-113-Malignaggi, 117-111 – Broner
Featured Undercards:
Marco Antonio Periban (20-0, 13 KOs) suffers his first loss against Sakio Bika (31-5-2, 2 KOs) with a majority decision. Judges’ scores of 114-114, 116-112, 115-112.
Seth Mitchell (29-1-1, 19 KOs) wins via UD with scores of 115-112, 117-109, 114-112 in the rematch against Johnathana Banks
Undercards:
Lightweights – 4 rounds
Jamel Herring (3-0, 2KOs) wins via unanimous decision against Calvin Smith with judges’ scores of 40-35, 40-36, 40-36
Lightweights – 6 rounds
Robert Easter Jr (4-0, 4KOs) remains undefeated with a TKO win in the 3rd wound at 1:46. Referee Steve Willis halts the bout after Antoine Knight (2-3, 1KO) suffers a cut and could not continue.
Jr. Middleweights – 6 rounds
Frank Galarza (9-0-2, 5KOs) continues his undefeated record with a TKO in the 4th round at 1:54 against Romon Barber (4-4, 3KOs). Galarza punished Barber with body shots and took a knee before Referee Earl Browne stood the fight.
Jr. Featherweights – 8 rounds
Juan Dominguez (14-0, 10KOs) destroys Bradley Patraw (9-5, 5KOs) with a straight left in the 1st round at 1:36. Winner by TKO – Juan Dominguez
Cruiserweights – 8 rounds
Marcus Browne (4-0, 4KOs) stops Ricardo Campillo (7-6-1, 5KOs) in the 2nd round. Before the stoppage, Campillo was knocked down in the1st round at 1:49 and the 2nd knockdown in the 2nd round at 1:15 before his corner stopped the fight.
Jr. Middleweights – 8 rounds
Julian Williams (12-0, 7KOs) remains undefeated against Joachim Alcine (33-4-1, 19KOs) with a unanimous decision with all three judges scores of 77-72. Williams scored a 1st round knockdown at 1:00 and again in the 4th round at 2:49 and in the 5th at 20 seconds
Bantamweights – 4/6 rounds
Rau’shee Warren (12-0, 2KOs) continues his undefeated record with a TKO win against Jovany Fuentes (5-1, 4KOs). Warren scored two first round knockdowns at 1:35 and 2:30. Fuentes gets dropped again in the 2nd round with a devastating right hook. Referee Ricky Gonzalez stops the bout at 1:04. Warren is now 13-0, 3KOs)
{gallery}Broner vs Mal{/gallery}
