By Ian S Palmer
Adrien Broner of Cincinnati, Ohio, will attempt to defend his WBA Welterweight Championship for the first time when he takes on hard-hitting Marcos Maidana of Argentina on Saturday, December 14. The 12-round bout will take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and will be broadcast across Canada by Super Channel and throughout the USA by the Showtime network.
The 24-year-old Broner is undefeated so far in his career with a mark of 27-0 along with 22 Kos. The 30-year-old Maidana, a former world champion, will climb through the ring ropes with a record of 34-3 with 31 Kos to his name. He’s stopped both Jesus Soto-Karass and Josesito Lopez in recent fights and hits as hard as anybody in the welterweight division.
Broner undoubtedly has a lot of talent, but rubs a lot of fans the wrong way with his arrogant attitude. He won a close split decision over ageing Paulie Malignaggi in his last bout, but didn’t really look good doing it and there are some observers who feel he was lucky to get the win. However, this is because Malignaggi is also an excellent boxer, as he showed against Zab Judah last week, and he doesn’t possess a lot of power.
On the other hand, Maidana has a hell of a lot of dynamite in his fists, but isn’t the greatest boxer around. He doesn’t go into a bout looking to win a decision. He goes into fights looking to knock his opponent cold. However, if he can’t do that he can be outboxed and he becomes frustrated as the night goes on. He’s definitely not going to be able to beat Broner on points so that leaves just one option for him, which is to take the champion out.
Maidana’s boxing skills have improved somewhat after turning to trainer Robert Garcia, but he’s still going to have to depend on his power. His straight ahead style could be tailor made for Broner though and he may get picked off all night long as he comes in to attack the champion. Maidana’s got a pretty solid chin and Broner isn’t considered to be a heavy puncher. Broner’s stoppages are usually the result of an avalanche of punches.
It’ll be interesting to see how Broner reacts when he gets walloped right on the chin with one of the challenger’s solid power shots, since his chin is a bit questionable. Maidana’s been outboxed by Devon Alexander, Andriy Kotelnik and Amir Khan and if Broner can stand up to his power then he’ll attempt to outbox him as well. This is basically the key to the fight.
Maidana will attempt to eventually turn the contest into a slugfest while Broner will try to land his sharp, accurate punches and keep his distance. Maidana will need to outwork the champ and keep his fists moving as often as possible. If Broner’s on the defensive all night long it’s going to be hard for him to rack up points.
It’s doubtful that Maidana has the boxing skills to upset Broner and it’s doubtful that Broner has the power to stop Maidana. Therefore, each guy has a chance to take this fight as long as they stick to their strengths. Broner needs to box while Maidana needs to slug. Broner’s defence is pretty good and Maidana could find himself swinging at air on many occasions. But over the course of a 12-round fight he’s going to connect on the champion sooner or later and when he does the story will unfold. If Broner’s chin is solid he’ll take this bout by decision. If his chin is weak he’s going to go down. Let’s go out on a limb and predict Broner’s weak spot is his chin and he’s stopped late in the fight.
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