By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBA, #3 WBC, #6 IBF light welterweight contender Adrien Broner (30-1, 22 KOs) expects to beat former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16 KOs) next month when the two of them face off on June 20th on NBC Sports on Premier Boxing Champions from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Also on the card is light welterweight Rances Barthelemy facing Antonio DeMarco, and welterweight Errol Spence Jr. battling Roberto Garcia in a 10 round bout.
“I’ve never lost at MGM Grand and I don’t plan on starting now. Porter is a strong guy but he’s never been in the ring with someone like me,” Broner said via ESPN.com.
Porter was recently beaten by England’s Kell Brook by a narrow 12 round decision last year. It was close, but Porter had no answer to Brook’s constant clinching on the inside, which prevented him from getting his shots off. Some referees would have stopped Brook from clinching by taking points off, but the referee that worked the fight let him get away with it for the entire 12 round but.
Broner has the kind of defensive skills and boxing ability to get the better of Porter if he can handle his heavy pressure and inside game. Broner didn’t do so well against Marcos Maidana in their fight in 2013 when Maidana put a lot of pressure on him at close range. But Maidana also had a big weight advantage in that fight in coming in at 165.
The fight was pretty much lost for Broner after Maidana rehydrated to the mid-160s. He didn’t have the size to compete with the larger and stronger Maidana in that fight. The Porter-Broner fight will take place at a catch-weight of 144-145, so Broner likely won’t have to deal with a big size advantage like he did in the Maidana fight unless Porter balloons up after the weigh-in.
“Facing Adrien is definitely going to be a challenge, but I’ve watched his career, even in the amateurs and I know he can be beat,” Porter said. “I’m also looking forward to fighting at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. We moved to Las Vegas for opportunities like this and I would love to make MGM Grand my home.”
Porter needs a win over Broner to keep him in the running for the bigger fights. He would like another world title shot, but that’s not going to happen if he can’t get past Broner.
Porter needs to make adjustments in his game so that he can deal with fighters that clinch 10+ times per round like Brook, because you can bet that trick will be played out by other fighters into the future, but not by Broner. He doesn’t play that. Broner likes to entertain, not spoil like we saw from Brook.
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