Paulie Malignaggi vs. Willie Blain, 12 rounds @ 140lbs

Spoken like a true Accomplishments On Paper nuthugger. :bart

You need to open you mind to the untapped potential of Untapped Potential as a rating criteria. :deal

:yep Seriously though, I don't think they're that far apart in ability. Certainly not a "different level." Yes, Malignaggi got far more done as a pro (while Blain was the more decorated AM, if not by too much) but consider that he had the fortune of competing in the big eastern US market as opposed to freaking France (a desert in the boxing world), and had big promotional backing and a built-in casual fanbase in NJ/NY to ensure he was bankable.

Blain possessed a not dissimilar style and not dissimilar skill level but toiled away on the flaky croissant crust of a domestic scene that was available to him while Pauline sunk his teeth into a nice fat Ciabatta.

I'm not suggesting that Blain would have been more successful than Paulie - or even as successful - had he received the same opportunities to step up in class. We honestly just don't know how he would have done against the level Paulie faced. Willie never really stepped up until the tail end of his career (and honestly at this stage, even being a few years younger and with more world class seasoning - I'm not sure Paulie himself wouldn't lose to Peterson & Fedchenko).

Your logic here is weird. It's a what-if type of match-up, so it isn't necessary to point out that Blain never proved himself on a big stage. That's the point of asking... what IF?

"Well, in this hypothetical match-up my reasoning for picking against one guy because in reality he never faced a certain class of highly rated opponent to tell us in concrete empirical terms what is being asked here more abstractly. I clearly don't grasp the whole 'hypothetical' concept! :hi:"

 

That "Pauline" slight was unintentional.

My smartphone auto-corrected during the composition of the post and I didn't catch it during my clean-up edit once I was back on the PC.

More on the dangers of auto-correct here.

 

Those were both in the twilight of the Frenchman's career, though. He'd been in the game nearly two decades by that point - and that's a long time for a lighter guy whose style is rooted in speed & stamina.


That Malignaggi himself is still looking good - better than he has in a long time, really - at a new weight, in his thirties is just a testament to his own above-average resiliency (as well as his professionalism and work ethic, and humility in subjugating himself to a brand new coach and offering himself up as clay to be molded).

 

I know! That's why it struck me to make the thread!!

This content is protected

It would have been a treat for the purists (and hell, just anybody who enjoys a good fast-paced dust-up...even if the combatants aren't packing dynamite).

I don't even disagree that Paulie would win, but 120-108 seems very unrealistic to me given Blain's boxing acumen & pedigree.

For me it would be - if not an outright draw - a tight squeeze either way that might depend largely on which side of the Atlantic it was on. 116-112, 115-113, etc. - barring knockdowns.

Paulie would be the more likely one to score a potentially difference-making knockdown, IMO. Both men kept their feet off the ground at times while buzzing around and could be caught in midair by someone equally quick - but Paulie undoubtedly has the better chin (in fact, that's an enormous understatement).

 

One more try...

 

:think Good insights. :thumbsup

Yeah, I definitely think both Blain and Malignaggi have styles and attributes more suited to the AM's than the pros...although Malignaggi has certainly adapted well.

 

Today:

Sturm vs. Murray @ 4:45pm EST (hopefully; I'll be at work)
Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St. Juste @ 11pm EST

Tomorrow:
Robert Helenius vs. Derek Chisora & Alexander Povetkin vs. Cedric Boswell @ 2pm EST

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito PPV & full undercard (both the PPV and hopefully the non-PPV undercard as well if Top Rank streams a broadcast).


No Showtime coverage from me. (I'll be catching up to it on DVR late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and hopefully avoiding spoilers until then). Someone else can take a crack if they're opting to watch that card live instead of the PPV.

 

Breaking news!!

oops: OK, about twelve hours late - but I doubt anyone else has broken it on this board :yep)


On last night's live broadcast of Golden Boy Promotion's Club Nokia Fight Night Club, special guest commentator Paulie Malignaggi spilled the beans that he is currently negotiating for an early 2012 date in the Ukraine against none other than Sergei Fedchenko!!!!!!!! :shock:

He said the only proviso that is holding up negotiations is that he wants to ensure the judges are impartial & diverse.

This would/will be about as PERFECT a direct comparison of Malignaggi's h2h abilities and Blain's as could possibly be asked for. Fighting the same guy, at the same point in his career (in a span of months).

If Fedchenko should beat Malignaggi (legitimately, not via robbery) and by about the same margin he beat Blain, I'd hope that people would eat a bit of crow and acknowledge that this "whole different level" stuff was a bit baseless. :deal

Especially considering that Blain was a) older, b) lacked as much big-fight experience, and c) was injured against Fedchenko...the bar is set very high for Malignaggi to perform exceptionally well if he's that much better as some claim.