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Lem’s latest: Malignaggi, Tyson part of Brooklyn’s boxing legacy

Fighters Network
10
Oct

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WBA welterweight beltholder and Brooklyn native Paulie Malignaggi is part of the city’s boxing lineage, which includes former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

Other fighters with ties to Brooklyn are Riddick Bowe, Mark Breland, Shannon Briggs, Junior Jones, Zab Judah, Michael Moorer and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, as well as Paddy DeMarco, Joey Giardello, Solly Krieger, Eddie “Cannonball” Martin and Lou Salica.

As part of a loaded undercard of a Showtime-televised, Oct. 20 event at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., Malignaggi (31-4, 7 KOs) will make the first defense of his crown opposite Pablo Cesar Cano (25-1-1, 19 KOs), of Mexico City. Malignaggi, 31, dethroned previously unbeaten Vyacheslav Senchenko in April by ninth-round technical knockout.



A former IBF junior welterweight beltholder in just his fourth welterweight bout, Malignaggi has not lost since falling by 11th-round knockout to Amir Khan as a junior welterweight in May of 2010.

Promoted by Golden Boy, the main event main event features a rematch between RING, WBA and WBC junior welterweight champ Danny Garcia and four-division titlewinner Erik Morales.

Also on the card, Brooklyn resident Peter Quillin will face WBO middleweight titleholder Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, of France, in a clash of unbeaten fighters, and Brooklyn middleweight contender Danny Jacobs will pursue his third straight win with as many consecutive knockout against an opponent to be determined.

In addition, former IBF and WBC junior welterweight titleholder Devon Alexander will challenge IBF welterweight beltholder Randall Bailey. Others on the show are Brooklyn-born ex-beltholder Luis Collazo, of Queens, welterweight Dmitriy Salita, of Brooklyn and Bronx-born Honduran junior middleweight Eddie Gomez and junior middleweight Boyd Melson, of White Plains, N.Y.

ALEXANDER’S SPARRING POWERFUL, YOUNG FIGHTERS

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Bailey (43-7, 37 knockouts) is coming off a come-from-behind, 11th-round knockout of Philadelphia’s Mike Jones on the undercard of Tim Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao in June.

Against Jones, Bailey won his fourth straight bout, having last suffered defeat by 11th-round stoppage against Juan Urango in a failed bid to earn the IBF’s junior welterweight belt in August of 2009.

In his next fight after facing Bailey, Urango was knocked out in the eighth round by fellow southpaw Alexander (23-1, 13 KOs), whose trainer, Kevin Cunningham, said that his fighter is going to be well-prepared for the one-punch knockout power that Bailey carries in his right hand.

“We’ve got some good, young talented undefeated sparring partners. I won’t divulge their names, but they’re good, young prospects. One is a junior middleweight and one is a welterweight. They’re both fast and strong and they’re doing a little bit of everything. We’ve pretty much studied Randall’s fight footage and they’re giving me a better version of Randall Bailey,” said Cunningham.

“Whatever he does, Devon does better. So the only edge that he has is that he’s a known, one-punch knockout puncher. He’s known for his power. That’s the only thing that he can resort to, because Devon is too fast and too smart. Devon’s got quick feet and Randall’s got old, slow legs. The only thing that he can do is look to try to land the right hand. That’s all he can do in this fight.”

UNBEATEN VITALIY DEMYANENKO MEETS ROBERTO VALENZUELA

Las Vegas-based Welterweight contender Vitaliy Demyanenko (20-0, 12 KOs), of Kazakhstan, returns to the ring on Thursday opposite Mexican journeyman Roberto Valenzuela (65-63-2, 54 KOs) in a scheduled 6-rounder at the Remington Park Racing Casino in, Oklahoma City.

“After spending the summer in my homeland of Russia, I’m ready to get back in fighting mode. I’ve been working hard in the gym and I’ll be ready to take on Valenzuela this Thursday,” said Demyanenko.

“I know he has a lot of experience, but I’m a young hungry fighter with a goal to be a world champion. I won’t be denied when we face each other.”

Promoted by Boxing 360, Demyanenko, 29, is coming off a unanimous decision over Ayi Bruce, winning all eight rounds, 80-72, on the judges’ cards.

“Demyanenko is looking fantastic and I can see him in a big fight in the near future,” said promoter Mario Yagobi, Demyanenko’s promoter. “Right now, I’m working on getting him to 25-0. After we reach that milestone, I’m going to put him in a meaningful fight, hopefully for a regional title on a televised m show.”

MIGUEL CARTAGENA’S BACK IN THE RING

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Bantamweight Miguel Cartagena (5-0, 3 KOs), of Philadelphia, will face Mexican Jose Rivera (3-6-2) on Friday at the National Guard Armory in Philadelphia in a show that is being promoted by Power Productions.

Cartagena, 20, has one knockout in the first round and two in the second, and is managed by the Battlestrong Boxing duo of Moz Gonzalez and Eddie Woods.

Photo by Tom Casino, Showtime

Photo by Emily Harney, Fightwireimages.com

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]

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