Prediction: Broner UD Maidana

By Boxing News - 10/31/2013 - Comments

broner66 - CopyBy Chris Marckesano: Knockout artist Marcos Maidana (31-3) is being given a good chance in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans to knockout rising star Adrien Broner (27-0). Their styles and recent successes make this fight hard to predict but I think that the safe bet is on a unanimous decision in favor of Broner for the following 4 reasons.

1). Boxing skill: Maidana has made improvements with his overall boxing skills since training under Robert Garcia but still relies on his power. However, watching his fight against Devon Alexander again makes it hard to believe that Maidana can win this fight. Alexander beat Maidana in a unanimous decision in a fight that was plagued with grappling on Alexander’s part. Alexander would hit once or twice, move, hit once and hold. He did that all night because it kept working and Maidana just could not adapt. Look for Broner to follow that blueprint. Broner does not have the swiftest of feet and cannot glide around the ring like Mayweather or Bradley but he does have a high boxing IQ. Broner will likely pick his potshot openings and hold immediately afterward. In these situations Maidana will have to rely on his rough housing abilities, which are definitely solid, to rough Broner up.

2). Speed: Broner definitely has the advantage in hand speed. Maidana has power, but not speed, and has struggled when fighting either slick defensive fighters or fighters with fast movement (Alexander, Khan). Broner was certainly hittable in his bout against Paulie Malignaggi but Maidana is much slower than that and Broner will likely pay more attention to Maidana’s punches if he knows what is good for him.

3). Stamina: Robert Garcia, trainer for Marcos Maidana, was recently quoted by esnewsreporting, “We’ll just be ready to throw 100 punches per round and they’re all going to be hard.”

Garcia had better hope that Maidana does not follow that game plan given his tendency to gas out during fights. Maidana has seemed to have conditioning problems in the past, getting tired and throwing light punches for a round or two in a row before being able to throw bombs again.

4). Popularity: Boxing fans know that the more heavily promoted fighter tends to win fights when it comes to a decision. In the alternate, there’s also just some terrible judging in the sport right now. Maidana will have to win very convincingly or knockout Broner out, anything less will likely lead to a favored decision for Broner.

I can’t see Broner knocking Maidana out as Maidana has been in with heavier hitters before but I think that Maidana’s plodding style and inability to adapt will allow Broner to get away with a decision after a fight that disappoints a lot of fans.



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