(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) by Jordan Capobianco: Everyone who knew anything about boxing said Adrien Broner would win by unanimous decision. Everyone who knew anything about boxing said Marcos Maidana was dangerous, would come out strong, and slowly fade through a combination of Broner’s punches and the energy expenditure of his own missed or blocked shots. The boxer was supposed to elude and attack, the puncher was supposed to punch and fade.
Everyone who knew anything about boxing said Maidana would win 3-4 rounds, most likely the early ones, and Broner would dominate from there. Even Maidana himself said he needed a knockout to win since he wouldn’t get a decision. And everyone was wrong.
Myself included. Maybe I thought Broner would win because I like brash young champions who have that air of invincibility. Maybe I thought he would use the Malignaggi fight as a wakeup call. Maybe I just wanted to root for some ghetto kid from Ohio.
But we all knew the truth. It was there for all to see. We had seen Broner’s Malignaggi fight, which ended in a split decision. We had seen why it ended in a split decision. On the night of the Broner/Malignaggi fight, I posted this to my Facebook page:
“A split decision which went the way of the supposedly unstoppable new guy who was a 10-to-1 favorite in a fight which exposed at least 5 serious technical weaknesses in his game: Can’t deal with pressure, has trouble with a moving target, inactivity, defensive weaknesses, and no effective jab. Just to name a few. Split decision. Meaning one judge thought Malignaggi won a fight that no one thought he’d be awake for past the 8th round. Not exactly a victorious championship moment.”
How quickly we forget.
But the illusion of Broner’s invincibility was still there when Broner stepped in the ring against Maidana. It was slow to leave even after Broner was knocked down the first time. The illusion of Broner’s invincibility was slow to leave even as the rounds progressed, and the Broner-friendly referee displayed just how Broner-friendly he was by allowing Broner to push repeatedly, to use his elbow and forearm, to take his time with his counts for Broner, and even to chivalrously take a point from Maidana after Broner overreacted to an attempted headbutt. The “humping” gesture alone deserved a penalty point from Broner for unsportsmanlike conduct. And the expectation of a Broner victory persisted, since no one knows what judges are going to do when it comes to things like this.
But then the unanimous decision victory for Maidana was announced, and Broner was quickly ushered out of the arena, and Maidana adorned a golden crown to match his golden world championship belt, and history was made. Not only because the judges got it right despite the hype, but also because the outcome of the fight directly controverted what everyone thought was going to happen, despite all the evidence that was there for all to see.
It might be a problem for everybody, this hype vs. reality, this reality of what happens in the ring vs. the complete unreality of what happens outside it. But tonight it wasn’t a problem. Tonight “The Problem” was exposed. I guess you might say problem solved.
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