By Ryan Wardle: Last Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Adrien Broner ( 26-0, 22 KOs) predictably slaughtered Gavin Rees, forcing his corner to call a stop to the bout at the end of the 5th round. Rees came ready to fight and won the first two rounds on many viewer’s scorecards. However, Rees was outmatched once Broner began to pick him up towards the end of the 2nd round and was dominated from round 3 and on.
Adrien Broner has a rare combination of skills. Broner possesses natural talent, power, fast hands, and a good defense. His personality is polarizing and those who are not his fans are likely those who despise him. His skills to this point are undeniable, but there have been questions about the level of opposition he has faced. In his biggest fight to date, he demolished Antonio Demarco in 8 rounds to capture the WBC lightweight belt. At the time Demarco was considered the best lightweight.
Broner has stated that he doesn’t plan to move up to junior welterweight anytime soon, and this leaves him with few options at lightweight. His next fight is expected to be a lightweight unification bout of some sort. After that fight, assuming he wins, he has little in the way of good fights.
Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) has been brought up in the past to fight Broner, and with Gamboa at least entertaining the idea of moving up to fight Timothy Bradley, it is no stretch he could move up to fight Broner. Gamboa’s promoter 50 Cent has also spoke about his interest in a fight with Broner.
Gamboa comes from a lengthy amateur background and was an Olympic gold medalist. He is a very good technical boxer and fights a fast moving offensive style. Gamboa also has speed and hits hard enough to test Broner’s chin, however he has shown in the past that he is capable of being knocked down.
Boxing fans have been asking for this fight and it has recently faced yet another hold up. Gamboa’s name has been linked to PED’s and when Broner was asked about Gamboa he replied “Yuriorkis Gamboa is fighting PED’s”. This latest allegation makes the fight less likely to happen anytime soon but, it could still be possible for this fight to happen by the end of 2013. This fight could be a big draw, as both fighters have name recognition and a fan base.
Stylistically this is a good fight because Gamboa thinks offense first and uses a lot of movement, while Broner uses his shoulder roll defense. Gamboa may have the skills to outpoint Broner, but Broner also has a great offense and in the end the combination of his power and Gamboa’s testy chin likely prove to be a fatal combination for Gamboa.
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