Showtime Fight Preview (December 7th)

Paulie Malignaggi vs. Zab Judah 

This weekend Showtime will be showing boxing fans a lot of love because they will be televising seven notable fights.  Perhaps the highest profile of the seven is a 12 round welterweight chess match between Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah in the battle for Brooklyn bragging rights.  Both men are coming off losses in very close fights and looked impressive even though they were beaten.  Malignaggi gave Adrien Broner all he could handle in a split decision loss while Judah lost a unanimous decision to Danny Garcia in a fight that saw Judah get off the canvas to fight on, something he didn't do against Amir Khan.

Malignaggi looked very sharp against Broner

Malignaggi is known as the "Magic Man" a moniker that fits his fighting style perfectly.  He has absolutely no power in his hands, if he punched a child the kid would probably look at him and say "is that all you've got?"  Yet that hasn't stopped him from being a highly effective fighter.  While his hands aren't powerful they are fast and accurate and allow him to win rounds with his high punch output.  As fast as Malignaggi's hands are his feet are just as quick and he moves around the ring like a dancer with each step leading perfectly into the next.  Malignaggi's hands and feet are fast but his brain has no trouble keeping up.  He possesses one of the highest IQ's in the sport, something he routinely shows off analyzing fights on Showtime.

With such a lack of power it is high IQ that has allowed him to stay at the top of his game for so long.  Malignaggi has a career record of 32-5 with only 7 knockouts and he has fought some of the best the sport has had to offer, fighters such as Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Juan Diaz, Amir Khan, and the aforementioned Broner.  For a fighter with such little power Malignaggi will surprisingly stand and trade punches.  His defense is elite as is his head movement which is what allows him to stand at such close quarters but make no mistake about it, Malignaggi is at his best when he is able to stick and move.  What makes his matchup against Judah so interesting is the fact that Malignaggi's strengths are also some of Judah's.

Judah won't have to worry about a KO this time

Judah is in some ways a more athletic and powerful Malignaggi.  He hast fast hands and good defense but doesn't move around the ring as much, instead he relies and simple head movement that allows him to avoid a lot of punishment.  What will make this fight a chess match is that Judah also holds a very high boxing IQ and has also been in the ring with the best.  Over his long and storied career Judah has compiled a record of 42-8 with 29 knockouts and fought the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Lucas Matthysse, Amir Khan, and Garcia all of which have only made him a better fighter.

Judah has a long reach which allows him to control the pace of fights from his southpaw stance.  He likes to stick out a stiff jab and then follow it up with a powerful left hand that is probably his best weapon.  One knock against Judah is that he hasn't always taken fights seriously and has seemingly quit in the past most notably with his fight against Khan.  However when Judah enters the ring motivated he is a very tough fighter to beat.  One thing to take note of is the fact that Judah will be moving up in weight for this fight so fans will have to wait and see if his speed and power travel up with him.

This is a fight for boxing purists.  Both fighters are highly skilled and the action may start off slowly with each man trying to figure the other out.  However after the first few rounds each fighter should have enough data on the other and will try to start exploiting each others weaknesses.  There is no way Malignaggi will be able to knockout Judah so he will instead need to focus on winning rounds by outworking him.  For his part, Judah will need to take this fight on the inside and land heavy blows to the body of Malignaggi.  It will be interested to see what happens if this fight goes the distance because Malignaggi will probably be busier but Judah will be landing the heavier punches.

PREDICTION: I'm expecting a very good close fight with a controversial decision at the end.  Paulie Malignaggi will have the higher punch output but Zab Judah will land the heavier punches and the judges will favor Judah on his way to a split decision victory.

Devon Alexander vs. Shawn Porter

It was only two years ago that a fight between Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley had fans salivating.  That was until the fight actually happened and Alexander quit, since that time fans haven't been to high on Alexander even after he beat Lucas Matthysse and Marcos Maidana in his next two fights.  So now Alexander will continue to try and get back into the good graces of fans this tim by taking on the young, undefeated Shawn Porter in a 12 round welterweight fight.

Alexander looked strong in his last bout

Alexander is an immensely talented fighter but that doesn't always mean he is crowd pleasing.  He is a southpaw who loves his jab, perhaps more than any other fighter in recent memory.  The reason Alexander loves that punch so much is because it has been so good to him and allows him to control rounds and fights without having to throw much else.  Alexander prefers to fight from the outside where he can make use of that strong jab and fast hands but he can also be effective inside especially with his short uppercut.  Don't be mistaken though, Alexander is much better from a distance and should keep this fight there.

Alexander's career record has only one blemish, the loss against Bradley.  Besides that he has been perfect with a record of 25-1 with 14 knockouts and he usually wins his fights by wide margins.  Yet he still hasn't been able to gain the large fan base a fighter of his caliber deserves.  There are two things that could do that, one would be for Alexander to score a few more knockouts, the other would be for him to have to go through a war and show he has the heart not to quit.  His opponent Porter will do his best come Saturday night to make it a war.

Porter will need to make this a war

Porter may not be the most well known fighter but that doesn't mean he isn't a dangerous opponent.  He has a very good chin and loves to trade punches from both the outside and inside.  Porter likes to work his jab upstairs, step around his opponents punch and dig his own punches to the body.  Porter goes extremely well to the body and because his chin is so good he doesn't mind eating a few punches to get there.  The only downside to Porter is that he does take a lot of punches partly because he is so confident in his chin and against a sniper like Alexander that could prove to be dangerous.

So far Porter is an unbeaten fighter with a record of 22-0-1 with 14 knockouts with his draw coming against Julio Diaz, a fight he later avenged by beating Diaz via unanimous decision.  Although Porter has been great so far this fight against Alexander will be a huge step up for him and should tell fans about what kind of future he could have.  If Porter were to beat the slick Alexander a big fight would be in his near future.  However a loss wouldn't derail his career and he would still be a fighter to pay attention to.

Fans known how Alexander will fight, the real question is how Porter chooses to attack him.  If Porter thinks he can outbox Alexander from the outside he is in for a rude awakening.  Porter needs to take this fight to Alexander and challenge him on the inside.  Porter should try to bully Alexander and land hard to the body because he won't have to worry about his power.  Hopefully for the sake of fans Porter is able to really test Alexander so they see how much heart he has, or maybe doesn't have.

PREDICTION: Shawn Porter is a good fighter but he won't be slick enough to beat Devon Alexander at this point in his young career.  Alexander is a big step up in competition for him and will take the less experienced fighter to school.  Alexander will win this fight via unanimous decision.  

Erislandy Lara vs. Austin Trout

This fight between Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout is very similar to the main event in that both fighters are similar.  Big time boxing fans are well aware of how talented these two fighters are and hopefully come Saturday night casual fans will also be clued in.  This fight is scheduled to go 12 rounds in the junior middleweight division with the winner certainly earning an even bigger fight.

Lara had all he could handle against Angulo

One reason casual fans may not be fully aware of how good Lara can be is because he is your typical Cuban fighter, a defense first counter puncher.  While that style of fighting may not earn you a tremendous following it will allow you to win a lot of fights.  Lara is a rangy southpaw with a quick jab and an even fast left hand.  Like most Cuban fighters he likes to stick and move in an attempt to avoid a phone booth fight.  As talented as Lara is, questions arose in his last fight about how his chin can stand up to real power.  In that fight he was dropped twice by Alfredo Angulo.  However if Lara sticks to his game plan he is a hard man to beat.

Lara has a good career record that should be even better.  As of now his record stands at 18-1-2 with 12 knockouts but his lone loss came against Paul Williams in a fight everyone watching thought Lara won.  Also his two draws against Carlos Molina and Vanes Martirosyan were highly controversial.  According to HBO's Max Kellerman, Lara is the best junior middleweight in the division not named Floyd Mayweather and that is a hard point to argue when he is at the top of his game.  One man who would certainly have something to say about this is Trout.

Trout lost his belt in his last fight

Last year Trout was on top of the world following a win over the legendary Miguel Cotto.  Then came 2013 and Canelo Alvarez who dropped Trout en route to a unanimous decision victory.  That fight was in April and Trout has been out of action ever since.  Trout must be an extremely confident fighter if his first fight back in action is against the talented Lara.  Like his opponent, Trout is a slick southpaw who doesn't like to brawl.  One thing Trout will need to improve from his fight against Alvarez is throwing more combinations.  He has a good jab but doesn't follow it up often enough.  Something he will need to do to tame Lara.

Trout has a record of 26-1 with 14 knockouts but like Lara, questions about his chin arose in his last fight.  The major difference between the two fighters may be there mentality.  While Lara is happy to stick and move even when he has his opponent in the corner or against the ropes while Trout goes in for the kill when he has his man in the same position.  That disposition could be a key for Trout in this fight.

The more physically imposing man in this fight is Trout and he will need to take advantage of that to beat Lara.  Trout will need to cut off the ring and keep Lara up against the ropes if he wants to win.  Across the ring Lara will need to do his best to avoid the jab of Trout and land his lightning fast left hand.  This fight could really go either way as far as action, if both fighters come out with to much respect for the other the fight could be a snooze.  However if one fighter feels he doesn't need to respect the skills of the other he could impose his will and win the fight.

PREDICTION: This fight has draw written all over it but hopefully for the sake of the fans one fighter steps up.  I think that fighter will be Erislandy Lara.  He is already 30 years old and needs to start winning these higher profile fights if he ever wants to make big money.  That motivation will help Lara beat Austin Trout by the way of majority decision.

Sakio Bika vs. Anthony Dirrell

The fight that will open the night is a 12 round fight for Sakio Bika's super middleweight title.  The man trying to take that belt from him is the unbeaten Anthony Dirrell.  Bika is the veteran in this fight and has fought in much higher profile fights but a fighter who has never been beaten like Dirrell is always dangerous and always confident.

Bika has fought some of the best

Bika is a physical fighter who loves to fight from the pocket.  His defense isn't anything to write home about but he does have subtle head movement that works well for him against fighters without elite hand speed.  Bika's best weapon is his right hand that he throws wildly and often.  Every time Bika throws the right he does so with bad intentions looking to end every fight early.  As good as his right hand is his biggest weapon in this fight will be his experience.

When it comes to facing top fighters Bika is an expert.  He has been in high level fights since 2006 taking on fighters such as Joe Calzaghe, Lucian Bute, and Andre Ward and while he lost those fights the things he learned from them should help him against the younger fighter.  Bika's record stands at 32-5-2 with 21 knockouts however one of those losses was a disqualification because Bika hit his man after he was down.  For Bika to win this fight he will need to make use of his immense experience and also shorten up his lethal but also looping right hand.

Dirrell will look to continue his rise

The fighter charged with avoiding that right hand is Dirrell but that may be easier said than done considering he has a major defensive flaw.  When Dirrell throws combinations to the body he tends to drop both hands, leaving his chin wide open.  If he does that against the right hand of Bika it will be lights out.  However Dirrell has much faster hands than Bika and throws shorter, crisper punches.  If this turns into a dogfight, which it very well could the fast hands of Dirrell could be the difference.

Dirrell is an undefeated fighter with a record of 26-0 with a very strong 22 knockouts but all of those wins have come against lower level opposition than Bika has faced.  In fact Bika represents the toughest test of Dirrell's career and a win on Saturday would really boost his profile with fight fans.

While most of the other fights on this card feature slick boxers, this opening bout does not.  Both Bika and Dirrell love a good brawl and that is exactly what fans should expect when they face each other.  While Bika is the more experienced fighter, Dirrell may be the more talented one.  However Dirrell needs to focus on defense if he wants to win.  Fans should see very fast if Dirrell has improved his defense because if he hasn't the right hand of Bika will end his night early.  Yet if Dirrell fights a smarter defensive fight he should be able to use his superior hand speed to out land the slower Bika.  Bika has never knocked out and if Dirrell was able to stop him fans could be looking at a serious contender in the super middleweight division.

PREDICTION: As long as Anthony Dirrell has tightened up his defense he should be able to pull this one out.  With the way these two fighters throw punches it would come as a shock if it went the distance and I doubt it will.  I think Dirrell will come out victorious in this fight and stop Bika in the 11th round.