Why Antonio DeMarco would be a test for Adrien Broner

By Boxing News - 07/23/2012 - Comments

Image: Why Antonio DeMarco would be a test for Adrien BronerBy Hector Gonzalez: Adrien Broner defeated Vincente Escobedo this weekend, although Broner won the fight in spectacular fashion, his victory also raised some eyebrows. Broner walked in 143.5 pounds on Saturday morning and walking in at 147 during the fight. The question that needs to be asked is, “Is Broner simply to big for the 130 division or did he need the extra weight in order to dominate Escobedo?“ It’s a fair question. Here are some thoughts.

While I respect and acknowledge his talent, Broner hasn’t one hundred percent sold me on the notion that he will be the next Mayweather or Pacquiao. To put it simply, for the most part, Broner is still untested. There have been reports that Broner instead of trying to lose the 3.5 pounds, instead started drinking more water, as well as posting a picture of himself with a Twinkies on his Twitter page. Having said that, it’s fair to assume that Broner had no intention of losing the weight and instead most likely wanted or needed the weight to use to his advantage. Escobedo landed some ripping body shots on Broner; I could only imagine what those shots would have looked like if Broner did not have the 5-pound advantage.

I’m going to back up a little bit to the Broner/ Perez fight and back up to the Broner/ Ponce De Leon fight. One of the main observations that I made during watching the Broner/ Perez fight is that Broner was not only much bigger then Perez, but naturally Broner is just the much stronger guy meaning that Broner was easily able to walk through Perez. Against Ponce De Leon, who was ‘smaller’ in regards to size, but just as strong as Broner with natural K.O. power, Broner was not only ‘not’ able to walk through Ponce, Ponce was the aggressor in the fight- and at least to my account, Ponce truly won the fight. Adrien looked weary of Ponce’s power, and Ponce was able to keep the distance, and get his punches in while maintaining a very disciplined fight.

In the case of Escobedo, the main observation that I made was similar to Broner/ Perez- Broner was easily able to walk through Escobedo looking much bigger and stronger. Even though Escobedo tried to work the body of Broner, it looked as if Broner was simply too big.

Broner is no Floyd Mayweather

Many people are comparing Broner to Mayweather. It’s a fair assessment, especially because they both use the Philly Style, high guard, right hand always in position, great left hook and great straight right. The one main characteristic of the Philly Roll is the ability to be able to roll off punches with ease; Mayweather has mastered the ability to roll off punches while Broner has not. Broner because of the fact that he keeps his legs very wide, is not able to fully use the best waist movement, compromising his defense. I suppose that Broner makes up for it with power. But again, Broner just didn’t look that strong with Ponce.

Broner could get hit, specially to the body, as a matter of fact- that’s actually one of his weaker areas and the real test is going to be how he deals with a fighter his size who has good defends, strong chin, a good reach, who he will not be able to walk through.

DeMarco vs. Broner

Antonio DeMarco is a strong poised fighter with an excellent chin. When DeMarco fought against one the greatest K.O. artist in the late Edwin Valero, DeMarco never actually hit the canvas, which is saying a lot considering that Valero had K.O.’d every single one of his opponents. The point being that Broner’s power will not look so great against a fighter like DeMarco who takes harsh shots and never stops coming forward.

At 135, Broner will actually look very similar to the weight, which he came in with against Escobedo since Broner’s official weight was 133.5. DeMarco’s reach and ring generalship will help him create a distance not allowing Broner to easily come in, DeMarco also has a great jab—and while the HBO commentators were busy stroking Broner’s ego this weekend, the smaller Escobedo was able to land a few jabs in there as well as some crisp boxing shots.

The early success the Broner had against Escobedo didn’t come from any crisp punches per say, it looked as if he’s punches were getting through Escobedo’s defense by virtue of just being hard punches coming from the bigger fighter. I don’t really see that happening at 135 or 140, especially against a strong pressure fighter.

Call me stupid but I could actually see DeMarco beating Broner. After all, Ponce De Leon already beat Broner.



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