Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah battled for hometown supremacy Saturday night at the Barclays CenterĀ in Brooklyn, New York. Malignaggi controlled the fight with his jab and walked away victorious. Judah was very hesitant throughout the fight to go on the attack.
The opening round was a slow one that Malignaggi got the best of Judah but in round two Malignaggi went down from a straight left and a slight tangle of both fighters legs. Both fighters received cuts around their left eyes in the third round which is when it seemed Judah was coming on a bit strong.
Malignaggi began to take over in rounds five and six. Paulie lands a small flurry and then eats a straight left for his trouble.
in the last round Judah went on the attack but that ended quickly as Malignaggi continued to use his jab to stop Judah in his tracks. Judah came on strong in the last ten seconds but came up short to no avail. Malignaggi landed a shot after the bell to which both fighters mouthed off to each other but it quickly died down.
Malignaggi won the fight and became the NABF welterweight championĀ with a unanimous decision. Scorecards read 116-11 and 117-110 twice.
The undercard featured three title fights. Devon Alexander lost his title in a mugging to Shawn Porter. Erislandy Lara made Austin Trout look like an amateur and Sakio Bika and Andre Dirrell battled to a split draw.
Devon Alexander must have thought that his fight with Shawn Porter was going to be a walk in the park because he no plan B to stop Porter’s bum rush. Early in the first round Porter got caught by a couple lefts from Alexander but Porter is able to connect with a right eye. Alexander gets marked up under the right eye before the rounds end. Alexander gets battered in the third round and gets stunned twice.. and his legs were ready to go before the bell rang then gets stunned again in the fourth round.
Alexander took a lot of punishment and by the end of the seventh round was cut above his right eye and had a mouse under that same eye. Porter would get cut two rounds later on the right eyebrowĀ from a head-butt.
Both fighters tangled up in the beginning of the twelfth round and Porter goes down from it.Ā Porter continued on the attack throughout the round then Alexander began to turn the heat up the last 30 seconds but to no avail.
Scorecards read: 115-113 and 116-112 twice with Porter becoming the new 147 pound IBF champion.
Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout started out very slow and continued at the same pace throughout the fight. Lara took on the role of the aggressor in the first three rounds then Trout tries to take on that role in the fourth and gets caught with a hard combo by Lara. In the eleventh round Lara lands a monstrous left which sends Trout to the canvas for the second time in his career. Trout’s legs were shaky but there was not much time left in the round and gets saved by the bell. Lara finishes the fight strong.
The scorecards read: 118-109 and 117-110 twice for Erislandy Lara.
Lara’s ability to hit and not be hit was his key to victory. trout would not really take any risks and with no risk comes no reward.
Sakio Bika and Andre Dirrell battled to a wild draw. In the opening round Dirrell landed a hard right which was the best shot all round. Dirrell would soon go down from a tackle by Bika. Bika began to throw wild over the top haymakers while getting countered by the jab and gets stunned from a short right from Dirrell.
At the beginning of the fifth round Bika lands a huge shot on Dirrell but gets stunned a short right and almost goes down but eventually goes down from a flurry.
Both fighters were stunned in the sixth round but Dirrell got the best of Bika stunning him twice.
The eleventh and twelfth round were foul filled with Bika landing head butts and low blows Ā on Dirrell and eventually getting a point taken away. Bika came close to being DQ’d from shoving Dirrell down with his forearm. Dirrell finished the fight running and celebrating for the last ten seconds of the round.
Judges’ scorecards read: 114-112 for Bika, 116-110 for Dirrell and 113-113 for a split draw.
