Paul Malignaggi vs Pablo Cesar Cano

An eleventh-round knockdown nearly overturned the advantage Paulie Malignaggi had built on two judges’ cards, but the Brooklyn boxer survived to defeat Pablo César Cano by split decision at the Barclays Center on 20 October 2012. After twelve rounds, Tom Miller and Nelson Vazquez each favoured Malignaggi by 114-113, while Glenn Feldman scored 118-109 for Cano. The pronounced disagreement reflected a contest in which Malignaggi’s frequent jabs and movement competed with Cano’s heavier punches and increasingly effective pressure. The verdict was unpopular with a section of the crowd, which had rallied behind the Mexican during his strong finish.

Malignaggi had won the WBA welterweight championship by stopping Vyacheslav Senchenko in Ukraine in April, and this homecoming was intended as his first defence. Cano’s failure to make weight altered the conditions. He initially weighed 148.2 pounds and reduced only to 147.8, against Malignaggi’s 146.2. Cano therefore became ineligible to win the championship, and the WBA confirmed that Malignaggi would retain it even if defeated. The Mexican agreed to pay $50,000 from his purse to preserve the match, with a further weight check required on fight morning. The contest formed part of the new arena’s opening boxing programme, promoted by Golden Boy and headed by Danny Garcia against Erik Morales.

Malignaggi began behind his jab, scoring regularly while Cano sought opportunities to bring his stronger right hand into play. Cano landed a hard right near the end of the first round and became busier in the second, when referee Steve Smoger warned him for low blows. Before that round ended, Malignaggi opened a cut above Cano’s left eye with his jab. The third brought further exchanges and another warning to Cano for punching low. Malignaggi’s greater volume remained an important feature, but Cano was beginning to reach him with more substantial individual blows. In the fourth, Cano found openings with straight punches as Malignaggi’s head movement diminished, before the home fighter resumed using his jab and lateral movement.

The cut troubled Cano during the fifth, and Malignaggi continued targeting the damaged area. Cano’s corner kept the wound manageable, however, and the Mexican maintained his advance. Through the middle rounds, his body punching and heavier shots made the exchanges more competitive. Malignaggi continued to land without possessing sufficient power to discourage him. The tactical question became whether the champion could keep Cano at the end of his jab consistently enough to avoid the right hand. Cano’s slower feet made pursuit difficult at times, but his persistence allowed him to work through the early disadvantage and contest rounds that had initially appeared likely to favour Malignaggi.

Malignaggi boxed effectively during portions of the eighth, while Cano continued finding the right hand in the ninth. The tenth contained another useful spell for Malignaggi before Cano landed a clean left hook late in the round. In the eleventh, a right hand knocked Malignaggi down during the closing half-minute. He rose quickly but was visibly unsteady, and the bell prevented Cano from extending his attack. Cano resumed the pressure in the twelfth, landing another right early and pursuing the finish. Malignaggi remained upright and completed the distance. All three judges awarded Cano the final two rounds, including a 10-8 score for the eleventh.

Miller and Vazquez had each given Malignaggi seven of the first ten rounds, leaving him a narrow winner despite the knockdown. Feldman credited him with only the fifth and sixth. CompuBox recorded Cano landing 262 of 757 punches, compared with Malignaggi’s 217 of 826. Malignaggi led in landed jabs, 160 to 97, while Cano held a substantial advantage in power punches, 165 to 57. Those figures illustrated the contrast in their work, though the verdict depended on the scoring of individual rounds. Malignaggi improved to 32-4, with seven stoppage victories. Cano’s late rally had brought him close to an official win, but his failure on the scales had already removed any prospect of leaving Brooklyn with the championship.

I give Cano this one narrowly. Malignaggi’s jab opened a cut early, but it didn’t stop the Mexican from coming forward. Cano kept working the body and landing heavier shots, then put Paulie down in the eleventh. For me, that strong finish tipped a competitive fight.

Paulie had earned his Brooklyn homecoming by stopping Vyacheslav Senchenko in Ukraine. His quick hands, toughness and personality made him a proper attraction, but popularity doesn’t win rounds. Here, his jab scored regularly while Cano’s pressure made him work harder than he wanted.

I wouldn’t call the split decision a robbery. There were close rounds, and the 118–109 card for Cano was far too wide. Still, I preferred Cano’s heavier work. Missing weight cost him his chance at the belt, but it doesn’t alter my assessment of what happened between the ropes.