Broner expects excuses after beating Mikey Garcia

By Boxing News - 07/26/2017 - Comments

Image: Broner expects excuses after beating Mikey Garcia

By Dan Ambrose: Adrien “The Problem” Broner is ready for the excuses to fly after he beats Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) on Saturday night in their fight on Showtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia and his people believe they’re going to beat Broner.

This fight could be a real eye opener for many if Broner does the job on Garcia. Broner, 27, intends on exposing Garcia to show that he’s not what the fans think he is.

“It feels like my back is against the wall — everybody’s counting me out once again,” said Broner. ”And then, when I win, they’ll only make up an excuse of ‘oh he should’ve did that, he was the bigger guy,” said Broner.

You hate to hear excuses after a highly rated guy loses, but you can’t put it past Mikey and his team blaming their loss to Broner on him being the bigger guy. I think it’s a given that Broner’s weight advantage will be excuse number 1 that is used by Team Mikey if he pulls off he upset. It goes from there.

I would hope that Mikey and his team take the high road and give Broner the credit he’s due if he wins the fight. It always looks bad when the loser starts with the excuses because it makes them look like sore losers. It would make Mikey look better if he gives Broner credit for the victory. The winner of the Broner-Garcia fight needs to give credit where credit is due. If Mikey wins, Broner should let the fans know he lost to the better guy and vice versa. Boxing needs more fighters that show class in losing. It looks bad when you get a beaten guy that starts complaining the minute the fight verdict is rendered.

It’s going to get interesting on Saturday when Broner starts landing a lot of punches to the head of Mikey. If history is any guide, Mikey will get on his bike and start moving around the ring to avoid Broner. That’s what Mikey did against Orlando Salido. Mikey was literally running from Salido in the 7th and 8th rounds. You could tell that Mikey was tiring from the movement, and the after effects of all the body shots that he was getting hit with. That fight took place before Mikey’s 2 ½ year absence from boxing from 2014 to 2016.

I don’t think Mikey can move around the ring like he used to. If things go badly for Mikey on Saturday from the pressure that Broner is putting on him, I think he’ll resort to clinching constantly to try and shutdown the pressure Broner is putting on him. Mikey did a lot of holding in his fight against Salido. The holding was a key element that Mikey used to keep the tough Mexican warrior from throwing punches on the inside. The problem was that Orlando was still able to land big shots to the body of Mikey before he could reach out and grab him each time.

”I really do give a [expletive] about critics and what they say about me or how they bash me on the internet,” said Broner. ”All I’m worrying about is coming inside that ring and putting on a hell of a show,” said Broner.

Mikey hasn’t fought any of the really good fighters though like Vasyl Lomachenko, Miguel Bercelt, Gervonta Davis, Terence Crawford, Robert Easter Jr. or Julius Indongo. Mikey hasn’t faced a big puncher since his win over Orlando Salido four years ago. Mikey was wearing down in that fight in the 8th, and he got out of the fight after complaining of a broken nose.

There are a lot of question marks about Mikey’s true talent due to him only having faced one really good opponent during his career in Orlando Salido.

The boxing fans overwhelmingly are picking the 29-year-old Garcia to defeat Broner with flying colors, and the odds-makers are picking him to beat “The Problem” as well. Broner sees all the people that are going against him, and he can’t wait to prove them all wrong by beating the undefeated Garcia on Saturday.

The reason why Mikey is the favorite in this fight is because he’s been beating the guys that have been put in front of him in the lower weight classes. What boxing fans and the bettors don’t understand is that Broner was doing the exact same thing that Mikey was doing when he was fighting at super featherweight and lightweight. Broner was wiping guys out in winning world titles at super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight and welterweight. Broner had to move up in weight to the `147 pound division, considering that he was having too easy of a time in defeating his opposition at 130 and 135. Broner was too good for them. Mikey hasn’t done the same thing. He’s feasting on the weak opposition in the lower weight classes.

Mikey is a good front runner in his fights. He does well when he’s in control of the fight against a guy that doesn’t have the power or the aggressive enough style to worry him. However, Mikey is a different animal when he’s facing a pressure fighter. Broner has the talent and the punching power to give it to Mikey just like Salido did. Will Mikey stay in the fight for the full 12 rounds or will he bow out with an injury to have the fight go to the scorecards to try and get a technical decision win like he got against Salido. I hope Mikey doesn’t do that again, because it would make the fight ending ugly like the Salido fight.

“I’m just doing what’s best for my career and Mikey Garcia, Micky ‘Clubhouse’ Garcia, he’s the best fight for me at this time,” said Broner. ”We’re not looking’ past him, he’s a hell of a fighter. Don’t get me wrong, he can fight. He can box. But at the end of the day I just don’t see him beating me,” said Broner.

Broner is very confident of his ability to beat Mikey on Saturday. That’s the way to be. Broner obviously sees something in Mikey’s fighting style that makes him believe he’ll be able to get past him without any problems. Broner hasn’t given any hints about what game plan he’ll be using for the Mikey Garcia fight. It’s likely going to be one of these strategies:

– Nonstop pressure. Broner will chase Mikey around the ring, forcing him to fight hard for the full 3 minutes of each round. Mikey likes to fight at a slow pace. We saw that in his fight with Salido. Mikey wasn’t comfortable with the pressure that was being put on him.

– Throw a lot of body shots. Mikey is not comfortable with getting hit to the body. That’s Mikey’s Achilles heel. He hates getting hit to the body.

– Don’t like Mikey clinch. If Mikey chooses to hold a lot, then Broner must keep punching him to the body while being held. Ignore the head and focus on Mikey’s body, as that’s where he’s the weakest.

– Don’t let Mikey hold and hit. If you look at Mikey’s fight with Salido, he was holding and hitting him at times in the fight and not getting penalized for it. Broner needs to make sure the referee is doing his job of controlling the fight on Saturday in case Mikey starts fouling.

– Keep Mikey from shoving with his left hand by alerting the referee to this illegal tactic.

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