Manny Pacquiao and Danny Garcia should clash in February

Danny Gracia scored a ninth round TKO over Paulie Malignaggi last night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The 5-foot-9, 147-pound Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs) dominated, bruised and bloodied the 5-foot-9, 147-pound Malignaggi (33-7, 7 KOs) with an array of flush lefts and rights.

Conversely, Malignaggi never landed a meaningful punch and the overwhelmed Brooklynite was consistently on the defensive.

Referee Arthur Mercante Jr compassionately halted the mismatch at 2:22 of the decisive frame.

"I still have things to work on, but I'm proud of myself -- 147 is where it's at. I felt a lot stronger [at 147],” said Garcia, 27, who unified two major belts as a junior welterweight. “In the ninth round, I felt like it was round 1. I need to work on shortening up punches and sticking with the game plan.”

Malignaggi raved about Garcia’s abilities and proclaimed that the Philadelphian is an elite prizefighter.

"I think Danny can be an upper-echelon fighter. He already is," said Malignaggi, 34, a former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist. "He can put his name in the history books. He has a lot of talent. People don't realize he has a lot of character, too. He has a very good poker face. He doesn't get frustrated, and if he does, he doesn't show it to you. His father's a great trainer, and he really stays on him.”

Malignaggi is expected to retire and focus on his work as a topflightboxing analyst.

Comparatively, Garcia, who has conquered Lamont Peterson, Lucas Matthysse, Zab Judah, Erik Morales and Amir Khan, is prepared to meet any welterweight. Recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder, Manny Pacquiao will re-enter the squared circle in either February or March. The 36-year-old Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), who tore his rotator cuff roughly three weeks before getting outclassed by Floyd Mayweather on May 2, failed to properly inform the Nevada State Athletic Commission about his injury. Pacquiao was subsequently prohibited from taking an anti-inflammatory shot, fought timidly, and was outscored by the 38-year-old Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) by embarrassing counts of 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110.

Pacquiao is an eight-division titleholder who the Boxing Writers Association of America named its “Fighter of the Decade for the 2000s.” The speedy southpaw used his superior quickness to land blistering combinations and become one the world’s premier pound-for pounders. Despite his pleasing style, Pacquiao shamed the boxing community last spring and fans deserve to receive some form of compensation for his abysmal outing. Accordingly, rather than competing on Pay-Per-View, Pacquiao should show humility and throw fists on standard TV this winter.

The most intriguing and qualified opponent for the 5-foot-6 Pacquiao to face would be Garcia. Garcia is a fierce battler who possesses vastly underrated power and a hellacious left hook. Nicknamed “Swift Danny,” Garcia, who turned professional as a 19-year-old in 2007 and was featured on the cover of the December 2013 issue of The Ring magazine, is also 6-0 in championship scraps.

Already “an upper-echelon fighter,” a free bout pitting Danny Garciaversus Manny Pacquiao would be a knockout for boxing.