Will Adrien Broner become a force at 147?

By Boxing News - 06/25/2013 - Comments

broner655By Gerardo Granados: Last Saturday night the new WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner defeated former two division champion Paul Malignaggi by a 12 round split decision but failed to impress with his performance. When I saw the betting odds, I thought that Malignaggi was heading in to a slaughter but the fight was really competitive. I scored the bout 117 – 111 for Broner, but there were a couple of close rounds that I gave to Adrien.

Malignaggi doesn´t have outstanding offensive skills but he was able to connect many clean punches to the body and head and it was his below average power that didn’t allow him to hurt Broner.

At the welterweight division there´s a line that separates the lower weight classes from the bigger lions and Broner didn’t convince me of being a big puncher for the welterweight division.

At the lightweight division Broner dominated Antonio DeMarco and Gavin Rees, he was able to hurt them, but against Malignaggi his power seemed diminished. Although Adrien hit Paul with several clean punches during the fight, he wasn’t able to hurt him or wobble him even once.

The experienced “Magic Man” might have exposed Adrien´s defensive skills to be not as good as many thought they really are. If Malignaggi had respectable power for the welterweight division he would have given Broner a rough night. What would light welterweight Lucas Matthysse chances be against Broner if he were to land a clean shot to his chin? No one can deny that Adrien Broner has talent, but he is not that good just yet, and to compare him to Floyd Mayweather Jr. is just not realistic.

The problem for Broner at the welterweight division could be his average power. It’s too soon to say if he will even plan to stay at this weight divison but the big fights might take place at this division or at the light welterweight so it is highly probable that he will not move back to lightweight.

Is there any need to rush these talented kid? Maybe his promoters should be aware of his age before rush him to fight an experienced power puncher. I´m not saying that his promoters should spoon fed him tailor made opponents but instead avoid move him too fast up to the welterweight division because in a couple of years Broner´s body will allow him to be as strong at welter as he was at lightweight.

The betting odds didn’t reflect the outcome of the fight but there is no doubt that Broner clearly won the fight. Was the reader impressed by Broner´s performance against Malignaggi?



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