Paulie Malignaggi Says Errol Spence Jr. Needed a Tune-Up

The former world champion believes Spence is taking an unnecessary risk by returning from a three-year layoff against Tim Tszyu without a comeback fight.

Paulie Malignaggi believes Errol Spence Jr. has made the wrong decision by returning against Tim Tszyu without first taking a tune-up fight. The former two-division world champion says Spence’s lengthy layoff and recent setbacks leave too many unanswered questions heading into Saturday night’s bout in Sydney.

Malignaggi said the circumstances surrounding Spence’s comeback make this the wrong time to reject a lower-risk return. Between the lengthy absence, the knockout loss to Terence Crawford, the lingering questions from his car accident and detached retina, he believes Spence is walking into the biggest unknown of his career.

“I don’t understand how you how there’s no tuneup for this guy going into this fight, but he decided it that way. So, we’ll see,” said Malignaggi to Fight Hub TV. “I mean, I think coming off of three years off and then a string of negativity with that car accident and, you know, the retina surgery and then you know going into the Crawford fight where it’s supposed to be competitive and he basically just one-sidedly puts a beating on him. There are question marks naturally. If you were coming off a bunch of wins and then take three years off, nobody would knock you for taking a tuneup. Let alone if you’re coming off the negativity that he’s coming off of… I think he puts himself at a disadvantage in this fight.”

Malignaggi said anyone picking Spence is relying on memories of the fighter he was several years ago rather than the version returning this weekend. With no recent performance to judge, he believes every prediction is little more than a guess.

He also questioned Spence’s reasoning for bypassing a comeback bout.

“There is a time and place for tune-ups. I think this situation. I think he’s missing something by not doing a tune-up,” said Malignaggi about Spence. “I think he could have used a tuneup for this one. It’s a ballsy move on his end… or a stupid move or a greedy move where he doesn’t want to take less money for a tuneup. He just wants some only big fights. It could be. We’ll see what it is. In hindsight, we’ll know what it was.”

Malignaggi still believes the matchup is difficult to handicap because of the unanswered questions surrounding Spence. If forced to make one prediction, he said he expects the fight to end inside the distance rather than hear the final bell.

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