Malignaggi, Judah to clash on home turf

Paulie Malignaggi doesn’t know how much longer he’s going to continue to fight. But he’s got at least one big fight left in him.

Plans are finalized for the 32-year-old Malignaggi to face Zab Judah at Barclays Center on Dec. 7 in what likely will be dubbed “The Battle of Brooklyn.” The welterweight fight, which will be promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, won’t be for a title. But Malignaggi believes two of the borough’s favorite sons will attract a big crowd in the downtown arena while providing enough intrigue for those who watch on Showtime, which will televise the fight.

“These are two well-known fighters who represent Brooklyn, and they are among the top 10 when it comes to talking and on Twitter,” Golden Boy chief executive officer Richard Schaefer said Friday. “I’m looking forward to this promotion.”

Malignaggi, who has become an excellent analyst on Showtime’s fight cards, was in Las Vegas working as a commentator for Sky Sports at Saturday’s Timothy Bradley-Juan Manuel Marquez welterweight title fight at the Thomas &Mack Center. He said he wasn’t passing up an opportunity like this.

“I have a chance to set myself up financially for life,” Malignaggi said. “If I take a fight, I’m going out on a shield. I don’t hold back.”

Malignaggi (32-5, seven knockouts) lost to Adrien Broner on June 22 in a fight he will go to his grave believing he won. He remains bitter about the 12-round split-decision loss.

“I swear, a day hasn’t gone by where at least one person comes to me and says, ‘You got screwed in the Broner fight,’ ” Malignaggi said.

Malignaggi doesn’t believe the below-the-belt verbal exchanges that dominated the prefight run-up with Broner will happen with Judah (42-8, 29 KOs), who has been known to say and do some outrageous things over the years.

“There’s a mutual respect there between me and Zab,” Malignaggi said. “I don’t think it’ll be like it was with me and Broner. The media was totally irresponsible the way they covered all that stuff about me. None of it was true, and yet they ran with it.”

Malignaggi, who is from Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst section, said a fight with the 35-year-old Judah, who is from Brownsville, won’t define his career. But he believes it will be cool to have two Brooklyn guys go toe to toe in a Brooklyn arena.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not even worried about my legacy,” he said. “I’m not fighting for my legacy. I’m fighting Zab Judah because of certain financial considerations, and it’s going to be a great night for the sport in Brooklyn.”

■ BRONER DEAL DONE — Schaefer said he hopes to have an official announcement this week for the Dec. 14 WBA welterweight title fight between Broner (27-0, 22 KOs) and Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden.

“We’re talking to the MGM about scaling the tickets, and we’re real close to getting that resolved,” Schaefer said. “Once we get that squared away, we’ll announce Broner-Maidana.”

That fight will be a Showtime Pay Per View telecast and is expected to include Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KOs), who will move up to junior middleweight and face IBF champ Carlos Molina (22-5-2, six KOs), who defeated Ishe Smith last month at the MGM to win the title.

■ MOORE TESTS POSITIVE — Boxer Jordan Moore tested positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, following his Sept. 14 fight at the MGM Grand Garden and is under temporary suspension.

Moore (3-1), of Verdunville, W.Va., was stopped at 2:30 of the first round by Lanell Bellows (6-0-1, five KOs) in their scheduled four-round super middleweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Saul Alvarez junior middleweight title fight. He was the lone fighter to yield a positive result from that card, which saw 18 fighters compete.

■ COMMISSIONERS RETAINED — Gov. Brian Sandoval reappointed Nevada Athletic Commission members Bill Brady and Pat Lundvall to three-year terms. The terms of Brady and Lundvall were to expire at the end of the month.

Brady, who is the chairman of the five-member panel, and Lundvall have been on the commission since 2007.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.