Schaefer working on Broner vs. Maidana fight

By Boxing News - 08/09/2013 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is reportedly working on a big fight between WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) and #2 WBA Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KO’s), according to Steve Kim.

This will be a big fight for both of them. Broner needs to show that he belongs at welterweight, as his performance against Paulie Malignaggi last June suggests that he’s in the wrong division.

Broner wasn’t the dominating fighter that he’d been a 135, and he’s lucky to have escaped with the 12 round split decision victory that he got over Malignaggi, because some fans saw the fight as a draw. If that’s the best that Broner can do at 147, then he needs to think seriously about moving back down to 135. Malignaggi feels that Broner isn’t in the right division, and needs to move back down. The Maidana fight could end up making the decision for Broner.

Golden Boy wants to make Broner a big pay per view star, and he’s better positioned to make that happen at 147 than he would be if he were to go back down to the 135 lb. division. But if Broner doesn’t have the talent to beat the best fighters at 147, then that means he’ll have to move back down in weight if he wants to have any kind of career. He might not wind up a PPV star in the lightweight division, but he can still get some big fights against the likes of Omar Figueroa, Miguel Vazquez, Ricky Burns, Richard Abril and Terence Crawford.

Broner is trying to follow in Floyd Mayweather Jr’s footsteps by moving up in weight and becoming a fixture at 147. But Broner doesn’t have Mayweather’s hand speed or talent. If you were to compare the two, you can probably say that Broner is about 20% of what Mayather is, maybe less. That’s not nearly enough for Broner to dominate the welterweight division like he’s done at 135.



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