Broner-DeMarco Preview: There Will Be No Solution to “The Problem”

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Tomorrow, HBO will continue with the great end of the year bouts that boxing is showcasing from last week until the end of the year as Adrien Broner moves up to the 135 lb weight class to face the WBC Lightweight champion, Antonio Demarco in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This is the type of fight that a boxer can surge their name into the spotlight and it can gain the respect of boxing fans and other fighter around the world. Broner is fighting for respect while Demarco already has the respect, but wants to get more name recognition; one of them will get what they want on Saturday night.

The 26 year old Mexican Southpaw, Antonio Demarco, comes into this fight with a 28-2-1 record, with 21 KOs, as he is, in my opinion, the best 135 lb fighter in the world. He had a loss earlier in his career in a 6 round fight that was decided by a majority decision, but his only undisputed loss was to Edwin Valero, an extremely hard hitting Venezuelan fighter that never lost and KO’d all 27 of his opponents, but was arrested for murder and then committed suicide while in prison. That loss by Demarco was 5 fights and almost 3 years ago and since he’s stopped 4 of those 5 fights and has risen to the top of the ranking of the 135 lb division. Some may place 25 year old Miguel Vazquez above them, but I like the power of Demarco better than Vazquez. Demarco has been especially impressive in his last 3 fights as he won the vacant WBC title against Jorge Linares by TKO in the 11th, then he stopped Miguel Roman by KO in the 5th, and in his last fight he took out John Molina in the 1st.

Adrien Broner is described by many words, some good, some bad, but the 23 year old flashy, sometimes cocky, fighter from Cincinnati definitely earned his nickname as “The Problem”. Broner has a rare set of skills seen in the sport. He has fast punches, he has power, and even though his defense still has a lot to be desired for, he makes up for it with his technical skill. The 1st time I watch Broner fight was against Daniel Ponce De Leon, a fight that a lot of people thought he lost. I felt it was a close fight that could have gone either way. However, since that fight, he has been completely dominated, winning his next 4 fights, all by stoppages before the end of the 5th round. His most impressive win was against Eloy Perez, a 25 year old undefeated fighter at the time that had solid skills. Broner pounded Perez for 4 rounds until the fight was the referee stopped the fight. Broner however, came into his last fight, against Vicente Escobedo, three and half lbs overweight and didn’t seem to care about it at the time or even after the fight. Boxing fans hope that he will take this fight and the rest of his high ceiling career more serious.

This fight is similar to Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, not in the style or result, but in the motivation. Just like Sergio, Demarco has the respect of the boxing community, but he hasn’t gotten a big payday and even though he has a high amount of skill, his name is not known by the casual fan, but Broner’s name is starting to gain steam fast. On the other hand, just like Chavez Jr, Broner’s name is already being hyped and mentioned with the likes of Floyd Mayweather because of his personality, his skill, and his non hesitance to be known as “The Bad Guy”. However, as much as he may not want to admit it, he does want the respect of the boxing community. There are a lot of boxing fans that don’t like him, and he may not care if they do, but he does want their respect. This fight can gain that for Broner. I really like Demarco and give him a lot of respect because he didn’t have to take this fight. Just like Abner Mares vs. Anselmo Moreno, he took this fight when he could have made Broner fight a couple lower 135 lb fighters before he instantly gave him a title shot in his 1st fight at 135.

This fight should be a good fight that could go either way. I was undecided about my pick about 2 weeks ago, but I feel Broner is a naturally bigger guy and could easily be fighting in the 140 lb division right now. I feel he will wear down Demarco in this fight. I do not think he will knock him down because Demarco is just that tough, but I do feel that he may cause enough punishment that the ref may stop this late in the fight. My prediction is Broner wins by TKO in the 9th. I am hoping that this fight lives up to the hype, like an Alvarado-Rios, type fight. It won’t have as much action as that fight, but both guys have skill, power, and the motivation the make this a great fight, so this weekend, enjoy the fights.