Adrien Broner vs. Gary Sykes a possibility for 5/19 on Khan-Peterson undercard

By Boxing News - 04/17/2012 - Comments

Image: Adrien Broner vs. Gary Sykes a possibility for 5/19 on Khan-Peterson undercardBy Scott Gilfoid: A mismatch between WBO super featherweight champion Adrien Broner (23-0, 19 KO’s) and British 2nd tier fighter Gary Sykes (20-2, 5 KO’s) is being talked about for the May 19th undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson 2 rematch at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It’s not been confirmed and I’m having a really hard understanding how the World Boxing Organization can sanction a fight between the 22-year-old Broner against a B level fighter who isn’t ranked in the top 15. That’s a terrible, terrible choice for an opponent. If you thought Broner’s mismatch against Jason Litzau was bad just wait until you see Broner destroy Sykes. I just hope the fight doesn’t get made because it would be too much of a mismatch for a high profile card like this one.

Broner needs an opponent with a live pulse that can give him a fight, not someone that he’ll bury in one round. I mean, I can understand why they might to drag Sykes into the fight from the 2nd tier, because there will be a lot of Brits watching the fight on BoxNation to see Khan fighting.

By having another Brit on the card, it makes it more appealing, I guess. But come on, isn’t there anyone better than Sykes in the UK? How about Ricky Burns, Kevin Mitchell or John Murray. Why won’t one those guys step forward to take the beating instead of letting little Gary Sykes take the fight and likely get destroyed in one round.

Sykes was blown out in one round by domestic level fighter Gary Buckland in November 2010. Sykes then won three fights against guys like Scott Lawton, Carl Johnanneson and Valentin Stoychev before facing Buckland again and losing by a 12 round unanimous decision last September. In his last fight, Sykes beat the inexperienced fighter Dean Mills (6-5-2) by a six round points decision last March.

It’s difficult to try and comprehend what may going through the heads Golden Boy Promotions by putting together a mismatch like this. I could understand it if Sykes was a good 1st tier fighter that was knocking out everyone he’s facing, but he’s not. Sykes was handled twice by a domestic level fighter in Buckland, and he’s not ranked in the top 15. That right there is enough for me to disqualify Sykes as an opponent for Broner. He needs to at least face a top tier opponent even when facing his optional title challengers.



Comments are closed.