The 23 year-old, who’s move up two divisions to welterweight was confirmed yesterday, made his way to where the New Yorker was giving an interview and proceeded to engage in a verbal sparring match with Malignaggi as the intensity between the two rose another notch.
A little time later, Broner was asked to fill in some time by Showtime’s Steve Farhood on his spat with Malignaggi as the network waited for Garcia to leave the stage to accomodate Judah. When ‘The Problem’ was asked by Farhood what he had said to WBA 147lb champion Malignaggi as the two hurled insults, Broner then replied bluntly: “I told him I’m gonna be f***king him up on June 22.”
Farhood then moved on to quizzing Broner on his decision to move up 12lbs in one jump, to which he then stated: “The weight is not gonna be a problem. At the end of the day skills win fights and he can’t beat me.
“They (the top fighters at 135lbs) all have fights and I wasn’t gonna sit (around and wait).”
With eight world championship fights behind him, there is no doubt that Malignaggi, 32, is more experienced than Broner after sharing the ring with Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto and Vyacheslav Senchenko on his way to world titles at two weight divisions.
But saying this, a lot in boxing are split on who they are choosing to prevail in this fight and are intrigued to see just how Broner deals with the extra weight and whether or not the hype surrounding him is warranted.
The last twelve months have certainly been the Cincinatti fighter’s breakthrough year and judging by their early insult jousting, Malignaggi may well provide his toughest test when the two share a ring on the ‘Magic Man’s’ home soil in the summer.
