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Brooklyn native anxious for Barclays boxing return

Brooklyn native anxious for Barclays boxing return
Community News Group / Jordan Rathkopf

Brooklyn boxing fans are in for a treat — Bensonhurst native and boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi was added to Showtime Championship Boxing’s July 30 card at Barclays Center. Malignaggi — a former International Boxing Federation junior welterweight and World Boxing Association welterweight champion — wasn’t originally slated to fight at the big-name event later this month, and his inclusion caught plenty of fans by surprise.

His last bout at Barclays in August 2015 resulted in a ninth-round technical knockout defeat to Danny Garcia and was supposed to signify the end of his storied boxing career. He was supposed to hang up the gloves, walk away, and settle into life as a network analyst.

Malignaggi didn’t listen to any of that. He wanted to fight again and he did. He won his last two bouts after the defeat to Garcia and, now, is ready to return to the Barclays ring.

He’s ready to come home and, he hopes, the fans are ready to see him.

“It never gets old,” Malignaggi said. “It’s one of those things where it’s my home away from home. I’m a Brooklyn product, so being able to fight inside an arena that they built in Brooklyn specifically for Brooklyn fighters, it’s a privilege and an honor.”

Malignaggi (35–7, seven knockouts) will fight 35-year-old Gabriel Bracero (24–2, five knockouts), another Brooklyn native. The fight will be broadcast on Showtime Extra prior to the rest of the card.

It’s not the main event — that would be undefeated Irish star Carl Frampton taking on World Boxing Association featherweight world champion Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz — but it’s a fight, and Malignaggi doesn’t take any fight lightly.

“It’s up to me to do my job and do it well and take it from there,” Malignaggi said. “I know (Bracero) well, and I know he’s no slouch. He’s got a similar style to me in that he looks to box and pick his spots and counter-punch. So I felt like it was a good clash of styles.”

Malignaggi is determined to put his best foot — or right hook as the case may be — forward in the upcoming fight, looking to chase away memories of the last time he fought at Barclays.

He’s well aware of where his career is at right now, and the former champ knows he’s not challenging for world titles anymore.

That doesn’t mean, however, that he isn’t looking for a different prize — a European championship.

“I’m an Italian citizen, so winning the European championship was always one of my goals,” Malignaggi said. “I always felt I’d win it before I won the world championship, but the way things wound up, I ended up getting a shot at the world championships and ended up winning them. You don’t really go backwards at that point.”

A European championship would be icing on the cake for Malignaggi’s career.

“I’m probably not going to be in a position to challenge for world championships,” he said. “If I could maybe capture that European championship on my way though, I’d like to do that.”

Before he tries to secure another title, Malignaggi is determined to give his hometown fans a good show on July 30. If he happens to prove some of those naysayers from last year wrong — even better.

“I want to close out my career at Barclays Center on a positive note and give the fans what they want,” Malignaggi said. “I want to leave the arena with that feeling of a victory.”