Broner vs. Rees

By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBA light welterweight and EBU lightweight champion Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) thinks he can target the body of WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) when they face off on February 16th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Rees isn’t saying it directly but it looks like he’s going to try and get in close and work Broner’s body over. His fellow Brits are giving him advice about trying to smother Broner’s offense by getting on top of him and throwing a lot of shots. It remains to be seen whether either of these strategies will work for Rees.

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By Jason Kim: Super middleweight contender Sakio Bika (30-5-2, 21 KO’s) will be facing 34-year-old unbeaten Serbian Nikola Sjekloca (25-0, 7 KO’s) on February 16th for the interim WBC super middleweight title on the undercard of the Adrien Broner vs. Gavin Rees fight card at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to RingTV.

The Bika-Sjekloca winner will be put in line to face the WBC 168 pound champion Andre Ward. Bika has already faced Ward once during his career, losing by a 12 round unanimous decision in November 2010 by the scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 118-110.

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By Scott Gilfoid: This was supposed to have been WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner’s unification bout with WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns, but he didn’t want any, and so Broner has got an easy substitute in former WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees to (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) on February 16th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Broner comes into this fight having annihilated his last five opponents, knocking them all out and not really being challenged by any of them. Even his last opponent Antonio DeMarco, who many boxing fans had previously saw as the beat fighter in the lightweight division, was a mere punching bag for Broner last November.

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By Scott Gilfoid: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns didn’t agree to take the fight with the talented WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) but that’s okay because Broner will be looking to send a clear message to Burns on February 16th when he destroys the Welsh fighter Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) in their fight at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

I suspect that if Burns had any thoughts of taking on Broner in 2013, he’ll forget those plans after watching what Broner does to Rees. It’s going to be painful, brutal and short with Rees taking a terrible beating and likely left on the canvas in a woeful state.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn, the promoter for contender Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s), has reportedly agreed to terms for a fight against WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) on February 16th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Hearn said on his twitter “Hounded by questions about Rees v Broner. We have agreed to terms with Golden Boy for February 16. Delighted for Gavin, he deserves this massive shot. February is going to be some month on Sky Boxing.”

Golden Boy likely gave Rees/Hearn a huge offer for this fight, likely much bigger than what Rees has been getting. Golden Boy wanted the fight because they couldn’t get the Brit WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns to accept a fight. So they went for the next best thing, which unfortunately is Rees. I say unfortunately because I don’t see him being in the same class as Burns, and Burns would have been an easy fight for Broner as well. Both Rees and Burns are a huge step down from Broner’s last opponent Antonio DeMarco.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBA World light welterweight and British and EBU lightweight champion Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) has been selected by the promoters for WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) to be his next opponent on February 16th at Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Rees doesn’t seem to realize that he’s pretty much been selected only to get the British public primed for a much, much bigger fight between Broner and WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns in 2013. Rees actually thinks he has a chance in this fight, and boy is he going to be in for a rude awakening when the bell sounds in the 1st round and he starts to take a terrible beating by Broner.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Golden Boy Promotions isn’t helping their young star WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) by setting him up with sick mismatches like his scheduled February 16th mismatch against Britain’s Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Fights like this aren’t helping Broner become a bigger star nor is putting him with reluctant fighters like Ricky Burns, who the American boxing public has never heard aside from the hardcore fans.

Broner is going to destroy Rees within few rounds and the fans will get nothing from this fight. Broner needs to move up to 140 where he can at least find some halfway decent talent to compete with. The lightweight division is devoid of any real talent, and it’s a waste of Broner’s career for him to be chasing down fights against guys that don’t want to fight.

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By Scott Gilfoid: WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) will be facing former WBA World light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) in a mismatch on February 16th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to Steve Kim.

This is a sick mismatch. Rees, #2 WBA, #5 WBO, #15 IBF, stands absolutely no chance against the 23-year-old Broner. I thought the Broner vs. Ricky Burns fight was a terrible mismatch, but this one even worse than that. Rees, 32, is going to get drilled into the canvas within four or five rounds.

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