By Allan Fox: Adrien Broner expects WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) to be ready for the hard hitting Argentinian Marcos Maidana (35-4, 32 KOs) to beat him easier in their rematch next month on 9/13 than he did last time they mixed it up.
Broner doesn’t say why he feels that way, but it’s likely because has been talking about wanting to box Maidana this time instead of standing in the pocket like he did last May in their first fight.
In hindsight, Mayweather made the fight with Maidana a lot harder than it should have been for him by standing still with his back against the ropes. That’s the kind of style that Maidana needs for him to be successful, and Mayweather played into his hands by fighting like that.
“Hell of a fight. Maidana is a tough opponent for anybody,” Broner said. “Of course, I know that. The first fight was a tough fight for my big brother, but he got past it like he always do. And I feel like this fight is going to be an easier fight for Mayweather, and he’ll get past this one. But after that I’m going to put on a show on September 6th, and hopefully I’ll get my rematch with Maidana.”
Broner’s next fight against ESPN regular Emmanuel Taylor (18-2, 10 KOs) is actually before Mayweather’s September 13th rematch against Maidana, so it looks like Broner has things a little mixed up when he says “after” the Mayweather-Maidana fight he’ll be fighting Taylor.
Broner is in the same situation as Danny Garcia and many fighters that are signed with adviser Al Haymon in that he doesn’t make his own fights. Haymon plans out his fights. So it really doesn’t matter whether Broner is talking about wanting to fight a rematch with Maidana, because that’s probably not going to happen unless Haymon sees it as a logical fight to make.
Maidana beat Broner on size alone last December in beating him by a 12 round decision. Maidana came into the ring over 160 for the Broner fight, and he was just too big and strong for him. Haymon must know that a rematch between them would play out the same way with Maidana taking advantage of his size to batter the smaller Broner, and walk through his shots like he did last December.
Mayweather could end up being Maidana bad enough to where it won’t be even be competitive. If he dominates him the way that he did Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Robert Guerrero, then there won’t be any point in Broner fighting Maidana again, because he’ll be too tainted from the loss for it to give anything to Broner. He would be far better off staying at 140 and going after one of the titles at that weight class.
Broner could go after WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia or his belts, or possibly IBF champion Lamont Peterson if he doesn’t lose his title in the near future in a unification match with Garcia. Broner needs to fight in a weight class where he has an advantage over his opponents, and 140 might just be the ticket for him as it was for him at 135.
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