Garcia eases past Malignaggi with a TKO in lacklustre fight

Danny Garcia remains undefeated after stopping Paulie Malignaggi in round nine at the Barclays Center, New York on Saturday night.

The ‘magic man’ must now retire. He doesn’t need to risk his health by stepping into the ring aged 34 when he clearly hasn’t got the skills he once possessed.

Garcia moves to 31 victories with no losses in what was a comfortable night’s work at his new division of welterweight.

But once again Garcia failed to impress. For most of the bout he decided not to use his jab and didn’t attack the ageing body of Malignaggi enough. Garcia only landed 25% of his punches. He appeared to be only attempting to throw single heavy shots with some missing wildly.

He did what he needed to do to win but the ‘magic man’ Malignaggi had no magic left and Garcia’s record was never under threat.

After being way behind on the scorecards the end to Malignaggi’s night began in round eight when Garcia connected with more spiteful shots, executing some thumping left hooks.

In the ninth the onslaught continued with Garcia finally deciding to punish the body. The referee put Malignaggi out of his misery and awarded Garcia another win.

Malignaggi earned 550,000 dollars for the contest and should now pursue a career full time as an analyst. He has demonstrated what an insightful commentator and pundit he can be and boxing fans will learn a lot from his array of knowledge.

For Garcia the jury remains undecided. He still hasn’t proved he is a quality boxer. But with potential fights with the likes of Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter ahead we will soon witness if Garcia has what it takes to be a great.