Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Broner/Malignaggi, Khan, Maidana, Rios & More!

broner0009 Jamison G. (Hollywood, FL): I thought Adrien Broner’s performance was pretty average. I don’t see the hype in him at all. How did you rate his performance overall last Saturday night?

Vivek W. (ESB): Seems fight fans around the globe are pretty quick to swing on that proverbial ‘pendulum’ for a fighter, be it for the positive or the negative. When a fighter knocks someone out, that person instantly becomes the “new” KO artist. When a fighter is knocked out, that person instantly becomes an “exposed” fighter. Many compare Broner to Mayweather. Others say Mayweather’s the last person in the world he needs to be compared to, as he simply isn’t that good in their mind. Those two widely contrasting perspectives would symbolize precisely why I don’t like to get caught up in the hype, as the truth is always somewhere in between…..not to the extremes that supporters, as well as haters pursue.

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Commey sparring with Joshua Clottey ahead of Commonwealth eliminator

World title hopeful, Richard Commey is in high spirits and predicting nothing but victory in his scheduled July 13 fight in the UK against Paul Truscott in a final eliminator for the Commonwealth Lightweight title.

Hitherto UK based Commey has been training in Ghana with his coach, Carl Lokko and has sparred with some of this country’s best boxers including former IBF Welterweight champion, Joshua Clottey and Obodai Sai, a former Commonwealth Lightweight champion.

Now he says he is ready to emulate his illustrious compatriots by going for the ultimate beginning with the date against Truscott at the York Hall, Bethnal Green in London, the very venue of two previous victories in his 15-0, 15 KOs resume.

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Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez: The One

Floyd Mayweather Jr. moved to 44-0 on May 4th with a convincing points win over Robert Guerrero (31-2-1) in front of a sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena. There was no evidence of ring rust despite a year long absence. ‘Money’ controlled the fight throughout. It was a flawless performance that reinforced his status as the best boxer on the planet.

Immediately the boxing community turned its attention to September 14th. Pundits, fighters and fans took to twitter and various internet forums to debate potential opponents for Floyd’s second fight of 2013. Devon Alexander and Amir Khan featured heavily in this global debate however one name clearly stood out from the rest.

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Paulie Malignaggi vs. Adrien Boner: Epilogue

malig56 Earlier during Fight week, Floyd Mayweather Sr was asked about the comparisons being made between Floyd Jr and Adrien Broner, to these Floyd Sr responded ‘Broner gets hit too much’. Fast forwarding to the fight Saturday night, it was evident Malignagi’s gameplan was to outwork Broner who’s known as a conservative puncher in the Mayweather mold. Not a big puncher Malignaggi who’s 30+ fights have recorded only 7 KO’s, the Brooklyn natives best chance of winning would be his toughness and workrate.

As the fight progressed, early rounds that Malignaggi was able to put in the bank with a high activity rate were replaced during the middle rounds with Broner’s pinpoint power punching capturing rounds for the 135lb champ. Paulie though losing was still able to land on Broner but with limited effect. In the end the fight was a very fan friendly, exciting contest and a rematch is probably in order.

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‘Mamba’ will have Mexican foe up to toe the ‘Chesanyama’ samba at Graceland

Evans ‘Mamba’ Mbamba has had a 10-month lay-off from competitive boxing but ring-rust won’t be a factor when he headlines the ‘Chesanyama Bill’ against Mario ‘Maca’ Briones for the vacant WBF junior-featherweight title at Graceland Casino, in Mpumalanga on Saturday, June 29.

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No Surprise – Adrien Broner the Farce Wins over Paulie Malignaggi

malig55 About the only thing(s) close to being a surprise was that Paulie Malignaggi went the distance and one judge thought he won the fight? Not much doubt who won. Paulie Malignaggi displayed even less “pop” than usual on his punches. In a way, you have to admire Paulie. it’s must take a lot of courage for Paulie to enter the ring unarmed, knowing that he can’t hurt his opponent. It’s a shame, because “The Magic Man” could be one helluva fighter if he had a punch.

The fight itself was predictable and silly at times. Adrien Broner was the farce, jester or wag. He has no class. He acts the fool, or maybe he’s not acting. One wonders if there’s a worthwhile thought that passes through his brain? If there is, it departs faster than his lead right. He always seems to get away with questionable tactics, not unlike someone else fans know without naming names. He uses his forearm and left elbow as weapons, and on one occasion actually kneed Paulie.

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Plenty To Talk About After Broner-Malignaggi Scrap

Judging by the number of comments ESB readers have been posting with regards to last night’s 12-round SD win Adrien Broner scored over Paulie Malignaggi, the fans have plenty to say and discuss about the fight and the whole event. Firstly, Broner, the new WBA welterweight champ, has further alienated many fans with his crass behaviour, both in and out of the ring – hitting on the break, disrespectful showboating and, worst of all, kicking during the action – and “The Problem” shows no signs of ever earning the respect of many of these fans.

Last night’s split decision, which came as quite a shock, especially to those “experts” who “knew” Broner would KO Malignaggi, has also caused some talk. Broner deserved the win, but what would have happened if referee Benjy Esteves had taken a point or two away from Broner for his many infringements? Can Malignaggi, who said he felt the fight was close and could have gone either way, be justified in complaining over how the split decision handed in by the three judges didn’t wind up being a draw or even a win for him? (had a point been taken away from Broner for his classless kicking stunt, Malignaggi would have got a draw on two cards, thus retaining his belt and scoring a major upset to the Broner applecart.)

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Broner wins the fight, but Malignaggi wins the event

We learned some things tonight in watching Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) battle hard to barely beat WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, 7 KO’s) by a 12 round split decision in a fight televised by Showtime. We learned that Broner isn’t cut out for the welterweight division. Malignaggi clearly showed that by almost beating Broner.

We saw that unless Broner moves back down to the lightweight division, he could end up as little more than just a contender in the future. We learned that Broner’s power isn’t as lethal at welterweight compared to when he was fighting at lightweight.

Malignaggi exposed Broner’s flat-footed fighting style and was able to easily outmaneuver him in the ring for much of the fight. It often took Broner too long to get his shots off because he often waited too long before he’d let his hands go.

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Broner decisions Malignaggi; Bika tops Periban; Mitchell defeats Banks

Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) defeated WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, 7 KO’s) by a 12 round split decision at the on Saturday night to win his WBA title at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA. The judges had it 115-113, 117-111 for Broner, and 115-113 for Malignaggi.

You can make an argument that the fight should have been scored a draw, as Broner did little in the first 5 rounds of the fight other than covering up in the turtle shell defense.

Broner failed to set himself apart from Malignaggi in terms of talent in this fight because he just didn’t work hard enough.

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Caleb Truax Stops “Da Bomb” in the Sixth Round

There’s been a bit of a drought in Minnesota when it comes to victories on the big stage. For a while there, it seemed like it would never happen. ESPN2 analyst and famous trainer Teddy Atlas reminded fans right away of that fact. He has a habit of pointing out what he thinks might be padded records. In Caleb “Golden” Truax’s case, Teddy explained that most of Caleb’s victories took place in his own backyard. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he was implying. He further explained that Caleb blew his big chance against Jermain Taylor on 4-20-12 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Except for a ninth round knockdown of Taylor, Caleb was pretty much shutout. Caleb 22-1-1 (13KOs) was determined to not let that bad memory repeat itself.

Caleb managed to get Don “Da Bomb” George 24-3-2 (21KOs) in trouble right away in the first round. Caleb quickly figured out George was not a counter puncher, and didn’t use his legs much for anything other than moving straight ahead. Consequently, Caleb started teeing off. He was using a hard jab to set things up and then pounded in with good three punch combinations. George’s idea of a guard was easily exploited by Caleb. The 29 yr old kid from Osseo, MN didn’t have to rely on his college degree to realise he could slam shots right into George’s guard without retaliation.

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