By Dan Ambrose: We’re going to see a very busy Adrien “The Problem” Broner this Saturday night when he fights Mikey Garcia at 140 pounds on Showtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This is a fight that Broner says he’s going to let his hands go and show the world see what a good fighter he is.
Broner (33-2, 24 KOs) has had no problems letting his hands go during his recent fights. That’s not been the problem. Broner’s problem is he’s getting hit too much, and he’s not shown the hand speed and power needed to dispatch his opposition at 147.
The 5’6” Broner will likely have the weight advantage over Garcia in this fight, but both fighters are the same height. Broner isn’t taller than Garcia and the reach is almost the same as well. Broner will have a one inch reach advantage over Garcia. If Broner is going to win the fight, he’s going to need to do it by throwing a lot of punches, fighting smart, and try to block the incoming shots. Broner will get hit. The only question is how many times Garcia will be able to put hands on him. Broner gets caught in a war, it won’t bode well for him.
Broner hasn’t shown knockout power since he left the super featherweight division. It was clearly a mistake for Broner to leave that division. Had Broner stayed at super featherweight, he’d be getting bit fights against the likes of Miguel Berchelt, Gervonta Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko. On second thought, Broner probably wouldn’t get a fight against Lomachenko due to the politics of boxing, but he’d have a good shot at fighting Davis and Berchelt. Those would be big fights for Broner.
”I’m just ready to let the world see me,” said Broner. ”It’s not an issue whether I do it on 140 pounds now. I’m in top shape and I hope he’d be into top shape. But I’m ready to let my hands go at that time on July 29th.”
Broner should try and throw 100 punches per round to see if he can overwhelm Garcia, who isn’t known for throwing a lot of punches in his fights. I don’t think Garcia is capable of even throwing 50 punches per round. He’s someone that waits and waits before throwing a lot. Garcia is very economical with his punches. There might be some stamina issues that Garcia is covering up by him not throwing a lot of shots in his fights. It’s hard to say what the problem is with Garcia’s punch output.
If Broner does throw a massive amount of punches in each round, he’s going to make Garcia miserable. Without Garcia getting a quick knockout like he’s accustomed to in his fights, he’s not going to be a happy camper if Broner can drag him into deep waters and hit him a lot. Garcia has already been knocked down in the past by Roman Martinez. Salido was bothering Garcia with his shots, but their fight ended prematurely with Garcia bowing out after suffering a broken nose in round 8. The fight was just getting interesting too, as Garcia’s power had dropped off and Salido was putting hands on him.
Garcia’s trainer Robert Garcia quickly had the referee stop the fight in the 8th round after Garcia suffered a broken nose from a clash of heads. Salido was not happy with the way Garcia chose to get out of the fight with an injury excuse, because he had an injured nose as well. Salido is an old school fighter, who believes in fighting through pain. He wasn’t about to stop fighting.
”I’m in a bigger fight, bigger cash and I’m just ready to put on a show,” said Broner.
If Broner whips Garcia, there might be a chance for a rematch between them. It’s hard to picture Garcia choosing to walk away from a knockout loss to Broner. There’s no doubt that Garcia, 29, can do whatever he wants with his career, but he’d lose a lot of status among boxing fans if he gets bludgeoned by Broner and left on the canvas. A loss to Broner would put Garcia in a situation where he would almost have to fight him a second time if his management could get him a second fight.
It wouldn’t be easy though, as Broner will probably want to move on with his career if he beats Garcia in a convincing manner. What does Broner get in fighting Mikey a second time after he beats him on July 29? There’s no upside for Broner to keep fighting Garcia over and over again if he’s already take his scalp in the first fight. Broner would be in a situation where he would have the pressure on him to top his last performance in beating Mikey. That’s never a good situation to be in. Trying to top your own performance creates stress. It’s easier to be the guy that loss the fight going into a rematch, as there’s less pressure.
Broner is in a sink or swim fight against Garcia. He either lets his hands go early and often, or he’s going to be on his back counting stars. Garcia wants this fight, as he knows it’s the key to taking his career to the next level. Garcia has been a pro for 11 years, and the only big fights he’s been involved with was against Orlando Salido and Roman Martinez. Those were big fights as far as hardcore boxing fans go, but they weren’t ones that caught the attention of the casual fans.
This Saturday’s fight for Garcia is much different, because he’s taking on a well-known guy in 27-year-old Broner. If Garcia can win this fight, he’ll get a lot of publicity in the boxing world. There will likely be a lot of boxing fans tuning in to see the Broner-Garcia fight, even though it’s on a premium channel and not one of the free channels. It’s too bad Broner vs. Garcia isn’t being televised on one of the free networks.
Broner catapult his career to the next level with a win over Garcia. Broner still has a goal of becoming PPV star like his mentor Floyd Mayweather Jr. It’s still possible for Broner to achieve that. Mayweather didn’t become a PPV star until he was 28, when he beat Oscar De La Hoya. Broner doesn’t have a big name like De La Hoya to fight to take his career to the next level.
Beating Mikey is a good start for Broner. If he can take a win over Mikey, and then defeat some of the top fighters at 154 like Terence Crawford and then beat a big name at 147 like Keith Thurman, we could see Broner’s career take off. A fight against Jeff Horn would be a good move for Broner as well. Manny Pacquiao is not a realistic option for Broner, as he’s about to retire. His promoter Bob Arum is probably not going to want to match him against Broner. Arum seems more interested in matching Pacquiao against his Top Rank fighters.
”I know all I got to do is be sharp and get this victory and do what I do and pay-per-view is going to come,” said Broner.