By Ian S Palmer
Former three-division world champion Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner of Cincinnati, Ohio takes on Emmanuel Taylor of Maryland in a 12-round junior welterweight bout this Saturday, September 6 at the U.S. Bank Arena in his Broner’s hometown. Broner is trying to put together a string of victories after suffering his first defeat last December at the hands of Marcos Maidana. His last fight was a 10-round unanimous decision win over Carlos Molina back in May. Taylor’s last outing came in July when he beat Karim Mayfield, also by 10-round unanimous decision. This bout can be seen live on Showtime in America ad on Super Channel in Canada.
The 25-year-old Broner will climb through the ring ropes with an impressive 28-1 record along with 22 Kos while the 23-year-old Taylor is 18-2 with 12 Kos. Taylor has an inch height advantage at 5-feet-7.5-inches, but Broner’s 69.5-inch reach gives him a 4.5-inch advantage in that area. Broner also has the edge in experience with 132 pro rounds under his belt while Taylor has gone 93 rounds. Broner’s been in with the tougher opponents throughout his career such as Maidana, Antonio DeMarco, Vicente Escobedo, Paul Malignaggi, Daniel Ponce De Leon and Eloy Perez.
Taylor’s toughest fights have been against Chris Algieri and Victor Manuel Cayo. Algieri beat him by unanimous decision while Prenice Brewer beat him by split decision. Broner won a trio of world titles before he turned 25, but he alienated a lot of boxing fans while doing it due to his arrogant antics. Maidana made a lot of boxing fans happy when he outpointed him for his only loss last year and also decked him a couple of times along the way. There are still a lot of fans who’d like to see Broner beaten again, but it probably won’t happen this Saturday. This isn’t to say Taylor isn’t a fine boxer, because he is. However, he doesn’t have the power needed to keep Broner on his back foot.
Taylor could launch himself into top-contender status with a win here, but it’s going to take a lot of skill and hard work, especially in front of Broner’s hometown fans. It’s a tough task since Broner has good speed and endurance. He can land quick combinations and make sure he’s not standing in front of his opponent to catch any return fire. Taylor’s got some speed of his own, but he’s a bit too defensive and doesn’t let his hands go as often as he should. He’d rather counterpunch than take the initiative.
Broner’s power was evident in the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions, but it wasn’t noticeable when he moved up to welterweight. His fists may have a little extra crack in them since this fight is in the 140 lb junior welterweight division, but Taylor can take a decent punch. Also, Broner can sometimes become lazy in fights and if he decides to take a round off Taylor needs to go right after him and make sure the judges take notice.
Prediction
For all of his faults, Broner is still a good boxer with plenty of skills and enough power and speed to cause some damage. Taylor also possesses some fine skills and decent power, but he comes in second behind Broner in both of those categories. He’s either going to have to box the fight of his life to win this contest on points or land the perfect shot to stop Broner. Basically, Broner is a Grade A boxer while Taylor is in the Grade B category. That’s the difference in this matchup and it’s also the difference in winning and losing. Look for Broner to take the fight by decision or a late stoppage.
