According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former world champions Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi will square in an all Brooklyn showdown on December 7th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“That’s their home and they want to be No. 1 at home,” Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Friday after finalizing the fight. “I think it’s a fascinating fight. This is about pride. These guys do not want to lose in front of their home crowd, especially to another guy who is also from their hometown. So it’s about pride, Brooklyn pride. It’s the Battle of Brooklyn.
“I think the fight could have been made for more money for us, but it’s made now and it’s a fight the fans still want to see. We’re going to battle for Brooklyn,” Malignaggi told ESPN.com. “We’ve circled each other’s orbit for a long time.”
“When you saw Paulie fight Adrien Broner in June, that was the best Paulie Malignaggi we’ve seen in a long time even though he didn’t get the decision,” Schaefer said. “And when Zab Judah fought Danny Garcia, same thing. So now they’ll fight each other, and if they both fight as well as they fought in their last fights, this is going to be a great fight.
“It never happened. I know it’s surprising,” Malignaggi said. “I think I sparred everyone else there was to spar in New York. I think it’ll be a good fight. I know it’s hard to pick a winner. There are advantages for both of us. We’ll get the answer on Dec. 7.”
In the co-feature, Schaefer said that interim junior middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara (18-1-2, 12 KOs), 30, a Cuban defector living in Houston, would face fellow southpaw and former titleholder Austin Trout (26-1, 14 KOs), 28, of Las Cruces, N.M., in a matchup of slick boxers
“Most people have Lara and Trout in their top-10 rankings at 154 pounds and it’s a 50-50 kind of fight,” Schaefer said. “Trout is coming back to New York where he beat Cotto and he’s ready to go. Lara is coming off a big win against Angulo and taking on another top guy. It’s a meaningful matchup between two of the best 154 pounders and the winner is in line for a big fight.”
Schaefer said a third bout — while not officially on the card yet — probably will open the telecast and feature super middleweight titlist Sakio Bika against Anthony Dirrell in a match that had been scheduled for Oct. 26 but postponed because Bika hurt his shoulder and had to miss some training time.
“The fight is done, but I’m still in discussions with Showtime about making the card a tripleheader,” Schaefer said.
