By Allan Fox: WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner successfully made weight on Friday for his title defense against Gavin Rees for Saturday’s fight at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Broner weighed in at 134 pounds. Rees, 32, weighed in just under the lightweight 135 lb. limit at 134.5 lbs.
In the co-main event, super middleweight Sakio Bika weighed in at 167.5 lbs for his fight against Nicola Sjekloca. For his part, Sjekloca also weighed in at 167.5 lbs.
It’s interesting that Broner, a fighter with a reputation for being big for his fights, was able to come in one whole pound under the lightweight limit without looking drained.
It could be that the 135 lb. division is perfect for him because he does not have to struggle to make the limit like he did when he was fighting at super featherweight.
Rees also looked good at the weight, and showed no signs of being weight drained. Rees, 5’7”, previously fought at light welterweight, but he moved down in weight shortly after losing his WBA 140 lb. title to Andriy Kotelnik back in 2008.
Tomorrow night’s winner of the Bika-Sjekloca winner will face former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in a fight that could take place on May 25th, barring any injuries tomorrow night.
Rees is a big underdog for tomorrow night, and he feels like he’s been overlooked by the betting industry. The odds aren’t good for Rees, but a big part of that is because of how good Broner is.
Rees isn’t considered a bad fighter. It’s just that Broner has been dominating guys recently, and is coming off of an especially impressive 8th round TKO win over Antonio DeMarco in his last fight. At the time of the fight, DeMarco was considered to be the best fighter in the lightweight division. Rees’ promoter Eddie Hearn is convinced that Rees would beat DeMarco if they fought, as well as any of the other fighters that Broner has fought.
Comments are closed.