Is Adrian Broner the new Floyd Mayweather Jr?
Floyd Mayweather wannabe Adrian Broner takes on Argentinian Vincente Martin Rodriguez for the vacant WBO super featherweight title at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio in the early hours of Sunday morning. The slick boxing Broner is considered to be one of the brightest prospects in America, a 22-year-old with great boxing skill plus KO punching power. Tonight's opponent Vincente Martin Rodriguez is the WBO no.6 ranked contender, and although relatively unknown outside his native Argentina, looks to have the skill and power needed to test the young American.
The WBO super featherweight title became available when previous champion Scotland's Ricky Burns vacated the belt to move up to lightweight, outpointing Australian Michael Katsidis to win the interim WBO lightweight title earlier this month.
22 year old Adrian Broner (21-0, 17 KOs) boxed more than 300 fights as an amateur, though several indiscretions with the law when he was a teenager prevented him from competing in the major amateur tournaments. Since turning pro in 2008, Broner has made excellent progress while boxing often, fighting five times in 2008, eight times in 2009, five times in 2010, and tonight's title fight will be his fourth bout of this year.
The 5'7" Broner adopts an aggressive counterpunching style similar to the one employed by a young Floyd Mayweather Jr. Interestingly, Mayweather's first professional world title was also at super featherweight. Broner likes to keep a high guard and look to score with hard, fast left hooks. When he gets the opportunity, he likes to break and go on the offensive in an instant, as fight fans saw in his sensational opening round demolition of top ranked contender Jason Litzau in June.
The powerfully built Broner is certain to climb the weights in the next few years, with his eventual destination likely to be welterweight, just like his hero Mayweather. By then, it is possible that Filipino sensation Nonito Donaire has also emulated his hero - Manny Pacquiao - and achieved his own ambition of boxing in the 147 pounds weight class. A Broner v Donaire matchup in a few years time is something to look forward to!
Broner's progress through the paid ranks has been relatively smooth, although he had a scare in his ninth professional fight, only winning a tight majority eight round decision against unbeaten Mexican Fernando Quintero. Ominously for tonight's opponent Rodriguez, in his 10th fight, Broner knocked out Australian William Kickett in six rounds. Kickett had previously outpointed Rodriguez comfortably in a 2008 fight in Australia.
The only negative reviews in Broner's career thus far came earlier this year when he faced dangerous, big punching former WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon of Mexico. Broner won a unanimous decision, with fans booing the result at ringside. Some experts believed that Ponce de Leon had won clearly. Certainly the fight looked far closer than one of the judges - who called it 99-91- had scored it.
Despite his undoubted ability and punching power, Broner is far from the finished article. When faced with a capable opponent like Ponce de Leon, Broner slips into the habit of throwing one punch at a time instead of combinations. Too often he will fall into a routine of pumping out his left jab while on the retreat and look to score with his big counter left hook. Against a well-rounded fighter with an arsenal of punches and a good defense this will be nowhere near enough.
Whether 26-year-old Vincente Martin Rodriguez (34-2-1, 19 KOs) will provide Broner with the kind of test he needs remains to be seen. The Argentinian looks to be a big, strong super featherweight, and although he has been down a couple of times in his career his chin looks strong. His style is somewhat predictable in a classic European orthodox way and he does not appear to have progressed much from his loss in 2008 to Kickett.
Rodriguez is a puncher, and ten of his last 13 victories have ended inside the distance. Apart from his losing trip to Australia, Rodriguez has boxed exclusively in his native Argentina. In general, Argentinian boxers make for tough and uncompromising opposition, although often their skill levels are not on a par with those of boxers from Mexico for example.
Broner clearly has the beating of Rodriguez in terms of skill and power, but he must not get complacent against a strong experienced and hungry fighter who is looking to capitalize on a golden opportunity to win a world title.
I see Broner winning this fight comfortably on points, although gaining few fans in the process. He will do what he has to do to win the title and defeat Rodriguez. There will undoubtedly be spectacular ring performances by Broner in the years to come, but this will not be one of them.
Broner by unanimous decision.
Big Fight Odds; Adrian Broner 1/33, Vincente Martin Rodriguez 12/1
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