LAS VEGAS — During last Saturday’s press conference at the MGM Grand touting their June 22 clash at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, WBA welterweight titleholder Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi called rising WBC lightweight titleholder Adrien “The Problem” Broner “a  Floyd Mayweather Jr. wannabe,” while Broner called Malignaggi “a clown.”

Malignaggi (32-4, 7 knockouts) and Broner (26-0, 22 KOs) confronted each other just hours prior to Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs) earning a unanimous decision over Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KOs) in defense of his WBC 147-pound belt, a victory that also gave Mayweather the RING championship.

On April 26 in Brooklyn, at the weigh-in for Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah, Broner and Malignaggi engaged in two separate obscenity-laced verbal altercations in full view of the media camera crews.

The fireworks last Saturday were equally incendary.

“Now you’re fighting a real fighter. Real fighters punch back. He’s coming up to a real weight class against a real man. He’s going to get hit a lot too. Guys like you, they’re a dime a dozen. Adrien is nothing more than a Floyd Mayweather wannabe. He doesn’t just fight like him. He talks like him. He breathes like him. He needs to get his own character,” said Malignaggi, who is 32.

“He doesn’t have his own personality. It’s a big insecurity. What happens to Broner when it isn’t easy? He’s never been put in that situation before. I thought this was the easiest fight they offered me. They’re giving me this ex-junior lightweight. It was a no brainer. He has good speed and good timing, but his power is overrated. A lot of what he does is overrated.”

Broner retorted.

“Everyone is saying ‘He’s going up in weight. Is he going to be strong enough and fast enough to take on a world class world champion?’ I know Paulie is going to come out to fight like he always does, but this will be his fourth loss to a world champion. He just keeps getting whooped by champions. I take him seriously, but he’s a clown. He’s going to come out with big feet, dyed hair and a crazy outfit,” said Broner.

“But I’m going to punch him until his nose is red enough to complete out the outfit. I moved up for the opportunity to be a 23-year-old three-time world champion in three different weight classes. I call him a one handed bandit. He’s never thrown a right hand ever. On June 22, he’s going to wish there’s another corner he can run to. It’s going to be a hell of a night.”

Photo by Al Bello, Getty Images

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]