Revisiting Paul Malignaggi vs Juan Diaz

By Andrew Fruman

With the rematch between Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Diaz coming up in less than 24 hours, I thought it would be a good time to re-watch and score their first meeting.

Watching live, I felt that Malignaggi had won a close one - but since I was doing a round by round blog that night, I wasn't overly confident in my tally.  To attempt to score a fight properly, complete focus has to be on scoring the action, and nothing else... and typing away madly is enough of a distraction that keeping an accurate card is a difficult proposition (especially when it comes to picking a winner in really tight rounds).

So for the first time since the contest, I sat down to give Malignaggi vs Diaz the proper scorecard treatment...

Malignaggi made a solid start to the fight, as he came out of the blocks popping his jab very effectively. He also used his legs to stay out of range, avoiding most of the left hooks Diaz let go with. Diaz eventually did get his jab going as well, and the second half of the round was fought on fairly even terms.

Round: Malignaggi 10-9

Total: Malignaggi 10-9

Round 2

Some very effective work from Diaz. He closed the gap nicely, and landed some good combinations. He had his left hook working to the body and upstairs. Malignaggi was still landing his jab, but not quite as cleanly as he did during the opening round.

Round: Diaz

Total: Even 19-19

Round 3

Malignaggi had a clear edge over the first couple minutes, as he managed to beat Diaz to the punch with 1-2s. Diaz landed a couple decent left hooks, but otherwise had trouble getting much going.

Round: Malignaggi

Total: Malignaggi 29-28

Round 4

Malignaggi had his moments in the round, but the better work was done by Diaz. He landed a really nice left hook during the first minute, and did some solid work in close a little later in the round.

Round: Diaz

Total: Even 38-38

Round 5

This was a difficult round to score, and one that needed a second viewing to come away with the winner. Diaz had a clear edge over the first minute. He barely got tagged, while landing some effective shots, including a couple good left hooks. The next 60 seconds were almost a dead heat, with both fighters getting in a few shots, while avoiding most of what was thrown their way. Over the final minute, Malignaggi landed a couple decent shots, while playing keep away on the outside – he had the edge over that stretch, but not enough to draw even.

Round: Diaz (very close)

Total: Diaz 48-47

Round 6

Malignaggi had a slight edge over the first minute, but chose to hang around a little too much on the inside, allowing Diaz to get some solid work done to the body. Some of Diaz’ shots looked to stray low, but many were scoring blows, and were the most effective punches either landed in the round.

Round: Diaz (close)

Total: Diaz 58-56

Round 7

After a fairly even opening minute, Malignaggi made the mistake of sticking around on the inside, and Diaz took control of the round with some excellent body work. Malignaggi did get through with some jabs, but the great majority of his work this round was caught on the gloves.

Round: Diaz

Total: Diaz 68-65

Round 8

Malignaggi listened to the advice of his corner and used some excellent movement to stay out of range. He kept Diaz at a distance, while popping his jab in along with some nice 1-2’s… all with his trunks about to fall down.

Round: Malignaggi

Total: Diaz 77-75

Round 9

This was a real tight round. While Malignaggi had been getting home with his jab and 1-2’s, Diaz had a slight edge over the first couple minutes on the strength of a few strong combinations. Malignaggi then controlled the last minute, popping in several jabs, while slipping just about everything Diaz threw. It was just enough to push him ahead.

Round: Malignaggi (very close)

Total: Diaz 86-85

Round 10

Malignaggi picked up where he left off at the end of the last round, and kept the fight on the outside. There was one moment about a minute or so in, when he hung around on the inside, and Diaz took advantage with his one really good flurry of the round. Aside from that, Malignaggi circled away popping his jab, and while he didn’t score all that often, he did enough to edge Diaz’ output.

Round: Malignaggi (close)

Total: Even 95-95

Round 11

This was a strong round for Malignaggi - one of his best of the fight. He scored frequently with the jab and 1-2, and stayed out of range of the ever charging Diaz. Diaz landed a couple of hard body shots with his right hand – after his corner had urged him to fire the right (something he’ll need to do a lot more often in the rematch) – but it wasn’t nearly enough to sway the round.

Round: Malignaggi

Total: Malignaggi 105-104

Round 12

Diaz did some of his best work of the fight in the opening two minutes of the round. He brought intense pressure, closed the gap and landed some solid hooks and right hands, while keeping Malignaggi on the defensive. Malignaggi fired back gamely, and the last minute or so was fairly close.

Round: Diaz

Total: Even 114-114

Overall, Malignaggi landed the cleaner shots to the head while showing slicker boxing skills, but Diaz kept the pressure on, and landed the heavier shots, especially to the body.  It's one of those, "What do you like?" type of fights.  The relentless pressure fighter, or the better pure boxer?

In rounds where there's little separating the fighters - and I counted 4 of those - that preference can mean the difference.  In those close ones, I gave Diaz the edge in rounds 5 and 6, and Malignaggi the edge in 9 and 10. Based on a judge’s style preference, it’s possible they might have given all 4 to either Diaz or Malignaggi, turning a 114-114 fight into 116-112.  Anything beyond that is giving one fighter the benefit of the doubt in rounds he simply didn’t earn.

Looking Ahead to the Rematch...

Malignaggi did his best work when he kept his distance and used his hand-speed to score from the outside.  When he stuck around and rested in close, he came off second best.  He seemed to feel he could take the best of what Diaz threw, but he was still clearly losing those exchanges, and in a close fight, it's a mistake he can't afford to be making.

Diaz needs to throw his right hand a lot more.  Part of what allowed Malignaggi to get comfy was that he was able to circle away from the left hook, while not having to worry about getting tagged by the right.  Against a slick southpaw with good wheels, Diaz needs to be a two handed fighter.

Prediction...

I think it should be another good fight, but Diaz has more room for improvement over his last outing, and I think a better performance from the Baby Bull should result in a more decisive victory this time.  I'll take Diaz by scores in the 116-112 neighbourhood.

e-mail Andrew Fruman