Broner not the banker that betting suggests against Malignaggi

Becoming a three-weight world champion by the age of 23 is certainly an achievement not to be overlooked and this is what awaits Adrien Broner if he is successful in his challenge of Paulie Malignaggi for the WBA welterweight title.

Broner’s credentials are certainly impressive, as he remains unbeaten, has collected 22 of his 26 fights by knockout and has the speed and athleticism to be regularly compared to Floyd Mayweather.

However, at 1/14 to beat Malignaggi, this price may be a little short that his bandwagon continues to roll on.

The first big test for Broner is that this fight marks a jump up two weight classes from his more typical showdowns at lightweight.

Broner’s frame has always suggested that a rise from 135lb to 147lb shouldn’t be a problem and there is certainly no reason to doubt that the extra weight will be to the detriment of his speed.

There is reason to believe that Malignaggi is a cherry-picked opponent, given that he is clearly one of the lightest punchers in the welterweight division, winning only seven of his 36 bouts by stoppage.

Should Broner have stepped up to face either Marcos Maidana or Diego Chaves instead or even moved up one class to tackle a heavy hitter like Lucas Mathysse, he would almost definitely not be such a short-priced favourite.

Malignaggi may be the biggest opponent that Broner has faced to date, but this is unlikely to mean that there is any chance that he will be knocked out.

Therefore, a points success may be the best that Malignaggi can hope for, meaning that punters believing that he can defeat Broner would be better taking the 11/1 he wins on points over the 7/1 that he simply triumphs in the fight result market.

This is not beyond the realms of possibility given that Malignaggi holds clear advantages in terms of experience and tactics.

While Malignaggi has fought the likes of Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Juan Diaz and Amir Khan, Broner’s resume is filled with talented relative no-names like Daniel Ponce De Leon and Antonio DeMarco.

Meanwhile, Malignaggi is tactically very astute and is sure to have a game plan to upset the challenger, which could be an urge to keep moving forward and preventing Broner from throwing too many single punches and combinations.

Broner should win to continue on his path to potentially rivalling Mayweather as one of the best boxers of this generation, but for punters backing solely on value, Malignaggi is worth a punt at the prices.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.