Broner v DeMarco - Keys To The Fight

This upcoming weekend's main attraction in the USA is a WBC lightweight title fight between current champion Antonio DeMarco and outstanding former WBO super featherweight champion, Adrien Broner, at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City. Dragon Boxing picks some keys to how and when the fight will be decided.

Antonio DeMarco

Deal with Broner's twinned attack.

DeMarco is ready for a war

The unbeaten Broner is a joy to watch, he has unbelievably fast hands and is also a big puncher (20 of 24 wins inside the distance), therefore there's so much for the opponent to deal with. His hand speed means he can deliver three or four shots at one time, with the constant pressure being too much for his recent opponents, albeit at a lower weight class. DeMarco is not the fastest at 135, and if he can't pressure his opponent and put him on the back foot, Broner will fight at his own pace and dominate the Mexican.

Make it a scrap.

Broner was able to dominate guys very easily at 130lbs, he was fed opponents that made him look good, guys with not much of a dig, who simply couldn't fight at a high enough intensity. DeMarco is not the best boxer in the world, but the way he won this title was making his bout with the talented Jorge Linares a war, he ground out an 11th round stoppage and finally got his world title.

Take Broner deep into the fight.

Like I've mentioned already Broner has been fed an average level of opponent who haven't been able to take him into the championship rounds, with just one of his last 15 fights going past six rounds. That fight was a controversial decision over the much smaller Daniel Ponce De Leon, and there has to be questions over how Broner will deal with a bigger guy for what could be a hard 12 rounds. 

Adrien Broner

Deal with the southpaw.

Broner should face the toughest test of his career so far

As has been mentioned already in my preview, the only guy to have given Broner real problems was Ponce De Leon, a southpaw, just like DeMarco. The question here has to be how does Broner deal with a southpaw, who can match him punch for punch in this weight class. That was a big night for Broner as it was his HBO debut and he may have been a little bit nervous, but that will have been the fight that Team DeMarco will have studied the most in the run up to this bout.

Moving up in weight.

Broner had to step up in weight for this fight, he struggled to get down to 130lbs for his last bout, and there was talk of him not doing the diet properly. There may not be too much of a question here though, Broner weighed 147 on the night of his last fight against Vicente Escobedo, which is the welterweight limit. He looked just as quick, and he should hold a real dig at this weight.

Stay solid.

One of Broner's many strengths is his defence, it's probably where all the Mayweather comparisons come from, they are very similar with the left hand low and a reliance on his excellent reflexes. Other than Escobedo's right hand, there was barely a glove laid on "The Problem" in his last bout, that suggests DeMarco could have a lot of trouble to land his left from the southpaw stance.

Prediction

Many are predicting Broner for the top, his and in and out of ring persona suggests he'll follow in Mayweather's footsteps as being the guy we leave to hate. This is going to be a real test of his credentials, DeMarco has far more high class experience (151 to 83 pro rounds) and his two major fights (RTD9 loss to Edwin Valero, TKO11 win over Jorge Linares) have both been wars, which is what he has to turn this fight into. I think Broner could surprise us all though, we know he's an excellent technical fighter, but I think he might show he's ready to tough it out in this bout. He'll start off quick, but DeMarco will come into it and make it the great fight we're expecting. However I think Adrien's skills will be the deciding factor (Linares outboxed DeMarco for long periods) and he'll run out a winner on the judges scorecards. 116-111.

Brits set to clock up the air miles

"The Special One" is set for a trip to the US

Overnight three big title fights involving British fighters in 2013 have come to the fore, the first of them being Devon Alexander defending his IBF welterweight title against Sheffield's Kell Brook. For the last two weeks there's been a lot of talk about where the fight will take place, Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn was desperate to hold the fight at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester, but it looks likely that the fight will be held in either the Barclays Center, New York, or the Staples Center in Los Angeles on the date of January 19. Last night it had been reported the fight could take place at the Scottsdale Center in Alexander's hometown of St Louis, a venue that he's enjoyed one or two debatable decisions in the past, but the likelihood of that seems to be improbable at the moment.

Cleverly is set for huge showdown with Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins is set for a ring return on March 9 and he is expected to be in a world title fight with either Beibut Shumenov, Tavoris Cloud or Wales' own WBO champion Nathan Cleverly. The Welshman was successful in his first US showdown last night, stopping Shawn Hawk in the 8th round of an entertaining bout in Los Angeles. It was Cleverly's most impressive performance for a while, and because of Frank Warren's relationship with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, Cleverly has to be the front runner in the race to fight "The Executioner". Nathan made a positive impact on the US fight fans because of his exciting style, and the win last night seems to have given him a great opportunity to fight the legendary Philadelphia fighter.

Murray set for daunting Argentinian trip

The final fight involving a British fighter is set to happen on April 17 in Argentina, with St Helens middleweight Martin Murray given the difficult challenge of fighting Sergio Martinez in front of an expected 55,000 sell out in South America. Murray will become the third British fighter to come up against Sergio recently, this after Darren Barker and Matt Macklin put up brave challenges against the world #1, but both falling short and getting stopped late on. Murray is set to fight on the undercard of Ricky Hatton's fight in two weeks time, with unbeaten Venezuelan Jorge Navarro in the opposite corner. It's a shame that Murray hasnt landed a fight with someone like Daniel Geale or Dmitry Pirog, they are excellent fighters in their own right, but he could very well be the proverbial lamb to the slaughter against "Maravilla".

Godding set for surprise Hamburg showdown

Godding has a huge opportunity on Saturday

This Saturday Wladimir Klitschko rolls into Hamburg as he defends his multiple world titles against unbeaten 27-0 Pole Mariusz Wach, a fight that the unified heavyweight champion will no doubt dedicate to his deceased legendary trainer Manny Steward, who's death last week hit the whole Boxing community. 

Undercards for Klitschko bills tend to be very weak in terms of action, the obvious reason being the fact they promote the bills themselves because of the TV deal they have in Germany and they don't have many guys signed to their stable, but there's one fight that catches my eye this Saturday. It's a welterweight showdown that pits the experienced former European champion Rafal Jackiewicz against unbeaten Bolton stylist Rick Godding. 

It's a terrific opportunity for the 18-0 Godding, who I very much consider a trade secret over here, not many people know about him, but the Steve Wood managed fighter is a cracking little fighter. He's only ranked #18 in the UK, but a victory here could see him pass many domestic contenders and land a crack at new British champion Frankie Gavin, or an all Lancashire clash with fellow unbeaten prospects Denton Vassell or Ronnie Heffron.

Jackiewicz is one of the toughest European welterweights

Godding has mostly fought on Frank Maloney bills, but has not had too much attention from TV companies, probably because he's more of a technical fighter than one punch knockout artist (just three stoppage victories). What has to be noted though is he has stopped two of his last four opponents, the power is starting to come on from the 27 year old, and although he travels to Germany as a big underdog, the Pole is way passed his best, as seen by the way Kell Brook dismantled him in October 2011.

Kell Brook destroyed the Pole in Sheffield

Clearly Rick has taken this because he feels he needs to be moving into title contention now, without the support of a big time promoter in the UK, he has had to look overseas and first and foremost, he must be applauded for taking this chance. Jackiewicz has improved his form of late, he's won his last four and that includes going over to Italy to stop Luciano Abis in seven rounds, becoming the European Union champion along the way. He's a real danger, but Godding has a solid 93 pro rounds of experience under his belt now, and I could definitely see an upset.

Interestingly this bill is being shown on ESPN this weekend at 10pm, I can't tell you if any of the undercard is being shown, but could this be a sign of things to come with ESPN venturing into more live Boxing events?

Cleverly hits LA

This Saturday (November 10) WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly makes his US debut, as he defends his title against South Dakota puncher Shawn Hawk, on a big bill at the Staples Center, Los Angeles.

Cleverly is making a name for himself in LA

Being Welsh and a massive Boxing fan, this is a very exciting weekend for myself, it's great to see British fighters going over to the States and this looks like an opportunity for Cleverly to really shine. Just like proposed opponent Ryan Coyne, Hawk looks like an opponent who will make the Cefn Fforest man look good. "The Sioux Warrior" is not that much of a step up in class from Nathan's last opponent Tommy Karpency, but to me this is not really about who he's fighting, it's about looking spectacular and getting the guys over in the USA excited.

Cleverly didn't tuck into this Man v Food type meal

Frank Warren and Cleverly have been touting for a fight with the likes of Dawson, Hopkins and Shumenov for a good year or so now, and if Cleverly comes through this test, then a showdown with a top five ranked opponent has to come. If you look at the Boxrec rankings now and you will see Nathan at #6 and Tony Bellew #5, which suggests that people should get off his back in terms of who he's fought, Bellew is an excellent fighter, but what the rankings suggest is that Nathan hasn't been too impressive of late and hasn't been fighting the right calibre of opponent.

Hawk is not a big name, but is a dangerous puncher

Hawk is ranked #50 in the world with the respected online rankings, and unlike Bellew's last opponent Edison Miranda, he doesn't have a great name in the sport. He's a serious puncher with 17 of his 23 wins coming early, but last time out he was outclassed over 12 rounds by then 8-0 former amateur standout Eleider Alvarez, therefore you're expecting Cleverly to win comfortably, but I've seen Alvarez fight and he's a devastating KO Artist, so this could be a test.

It's a great weekend of Boxing in the USA, Moreno v Mares on the same bill is a brilliant fight and I'm a massive fan of Leo Santa Cruz, who's also on show at the Staples Center, but this is the fight I've got my eye on and tracking the buildup already, there seems to be plenty of hype about Nathan over there. BoxNation are showing it over here and Showtime are expected to open their telecast with Cleverly's title defence. Warren has done a great job of getting him on the bill, now Nathan needs to deliver a top class performance, and move on to a huge fight.

Bute didn't impress in a light heavyweight venture on Saturday

Interestingly Lucian Bute fought at light heavyweight at the weekend and if that proposed rematch with Froch doesn't happen, I would think of him as a perfect test for Nathan, a fresh and hungry fighter would destroy the version of the Canadian-Romanian we saw at the weekend, he looked like a fighter with a lot missing from his game.

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Plumber Price turns the tap off on Fraudley's career

It took very little time for Audley to hit the canvas

This past Saturday night at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, local 6ft8 heavy hope David Price turned in a devastating display to end the career of 2000 Olympic Gold medallist Audley Harrison in a mere 82 seconds. Price deserves all the praise that's coming to him from all corners of the Boxing universe, but the focus has to be on another terrible display from "A-Farce".

Harrison has got to go down as one of the worst Gold medallist from any Olympic games in any weight class, the fact is this man has made a fortune from the sport, despite several failures. Despite that truly embarrassing display against David Haye in November 2010, Harrison still got himself many column inches pre-fight, including a double page spread in Thursday's Mirror, which I was disgusted by. In that interview he talked of being back to the form of his March 2004 4th round knockout of Richel Hersisia, but I doubt anyone would have believed his deluded hype this time around.

Before his comeback bout with Ali Adams, Harrison had talked of fighting a Klitschko and in media interviews before his meeting with Price, Audley got himself another buzz word, this time it was 'redemption'. This after his infamous "Yes I can" speech pre Hayemaker. Harrison deserves respect somewhat for defying so many critics, but there is no way he's bouncing back after this latest debacle.

Harrison in better days

The reason I've written this post is not to make fun of Harrison however, I respect what he accomplished as a Gold medallist and the legacy he left in the amateur game for the likes of Amir Khan, James DeGale and Anthony Joshua, who benefited from increased funding after Audley's Sydney success. What I did not like post-fight was people on TV and online speaking against the Echo crowd for taunting Harrison for a terrible display. Many have said it takes great bravery to enter the ring, and that's true, Boxing is a violent sport, but many of those in the arena on Saturday could have done what Harrison did and would have done it for much less money. Once again he failed to throw a power punch and like in the Haye fight he turned into a human punch bag.

His career has long been tainted and he has played his part in three of the most recognisable TV channels ending their interest in the sport. The 40 year old turned pro at Wembley Arena in May 2001 having signed a million pound deal with the BBC, and blew plenty of opponents away early, which he could afford to do for a two or three years, but the excitement and hype started to wain, people lost interest in Harrison v "a bum" and the BBC ended their coverage of live Boxing, and are very unlikely to return. Audley was then given an opportunity with Frank Warren, who had a new TV deal with ITV, but the beginning of the end started as he lost for the first time in a split decision snore-fest against Danny Williams in December 2005. He did overturn that defeat, but that was after a loss in the States against Dominick Guinn, and just three months after the Williams rematch, he was knocked out in three rounds by Michael Sprott, and Warren soon returned to Sky. Dishwater wins over Jason Barnett and George Arias followed, but after a loss to unheralded Belfast cab driver Martin Rogan, Audley split ties with the veteran promoter.

The Wembley man went on to win Prizefighter and claim the European title with a stunning 11th round knockout of Sprott, which got him the shot against Haye in Manchester. The buzz around the fight was great, Harrison talked up his chances, but his display was one of the worst seen in a world title fight. This fight was screened on Sky Box Office and the uproar from the public made Sky discontinue with charging fans extra for fights. This changed their perception of the sport and has got them to the situation we currently have, which is one promoter providing all of their content, Warren launching his own TV channel and Frank Maloney and Ricky Hatton with no TV contract for their stables.

What it may seem is that I'm pinning a lot of British Boxing's troubles on Harrison, that is not true, there are many contributing factors to the ongoing politics festering in the game, but in the last ten or fifteen years, I can't think of many figures who have tainted Boxing as much as Harrison. I don't know how anyone can justify anything that he has done in his career or how he performed on Saturday night, well done on winning the Gold, but 12 years on, he must take a long, hard look in his mirror at home and think, what have I achieved? It's hard to know what Harrison will do without Boxing, it's never easy to give the sport up, and I personally hope he finds something that gives himself the same fulfilment as he had in Sydney, but judged on the amount of PPV buys he got Sky that November, a job as a door to door salesman isn't a bad idea.

Fury v Price would be a huge fight in Britain

Let's not forget Price here though, this guy looks the real deal, a massive grudge match with Tyson Fury could beckon in 2013, this after the Manchester man launched two separate foul mouthed rants aimed at Price on Saturday night. Like Harrison, Fury could sell time to an inmate, but unlike Fraudley's fight with Haye, that could be a heavyweight fight which lives up to it's hype and puts the former's bout firmly in the back of our minds.

Purdy set for Jones test

Purdy overpowered his Argentinian opponent

It looks as though Lee "Lights Out" Purdy has earned himself another big fight for December, with a bout against American tough man Carson Jones being mooted for either the 8th or 15th. Eddie Hearn is expected to put together another stacked bill, featuring the return of Darren Barker (hopefully), a cracking domestic dust up between John Ryder and Kreshnik Qato, as well as the return of Erick "The Eagle" Ochieng.

Jones, who gave Kell Brook an incredibly tough fight in July, is set for a return to Britain and will no doubt give Purdy the biggest test of his career. It represents a real change in fortune for the Colchester man, who was handed a last minute opportunity to fight unbeaten Argentine banger Gumersindo Carrasco for the IBF International Welterweight title in September, stopping the crude 25 year old in four rounds, in what was a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle.

Purdy is never in a bad fight and judged on Jones' fight with Brook, it could be a real pre Christmas cracker for Boxing fans tuning into Sky Sports. The step up in class for the talented Ryder will be another reason to tune in as he takes on the very experienced and battle hardened London based Albanian.

Five opponents for Ricky Burns

Ricky Burns stunned Kevin Mitchell on Saturday night by completely out-muscling the Dagenham man inside four rounds to remain WBO lightweight champion. That win has led calls for an unification clash with Antonio DeMarco or Miguel Vazquez, but that won't be happening this year and is more likely going to happen in March or April. After the fight Frank Warren said that Burns is likely to be out in December and here are five potential opponents for that date.

1. Scott Harrison

An all Scottish fight with Harrison is likely for Burns

I don't think Harrison deserves a shot at the title, but this is modern Boxing and with both guys signed up to Frank Warren's promotional company, this would be an easy one to make, but would also make a huge amount of money for Warren. These are Scotland's two best boxers in the last 10-15 years, Harrison was a great featherweight, but in his two fights back, he's fought a very low level of opponent. Saturday night Harrison got a six round points decision over Joe Elfidh, and other than the first round, he showed that he was a long way off a world title fight. This is the fight that would least surprise me, even though I'm totally against it, Harrison should be nowhere near a world title fight when there's so much quality domestically and world wide at 135lbs. Personally I would like to see Harrison fight Mitchell on the undercard of Burns' next title fight.

2. John Murray

Murray's on the comeback trail

Another fight that would be pretty easy to make because of the promotional deals. Murray has been out of the ring since a brave challenge for Brandon Rios' world title in December 2011 over in New York, where he was stopped in eleven rounds. Before that Murray had lost to Kevin Mitchell in what was an amazing fight, but one he hadn't trained properly for, and he showed that he's very dangerous if he's taken his preparation seriously. Murray is back in full training at Joe Gallagher's gym, him v Burns would be a serious contender for FOTY.

3. Sharif Bogere

Bogere would be an interesting choice

Ugandan based in Las Vegas holds a high ranking with the WBO as he's the current WBO NABO champion, and is certainly a live contender at 135 as he's ranked #14 in the world by boxrec and undefeated in 23 pro fights. Is promoted by Golden Boy in the States, and they have a good relationship with Frank Warren, which certainly makes it a contest with not so many political brick walls in front of it. Bogere however is being linked for a November title fight with Richard Abril, although it's doubtful if that will go ahead, Eddie Hearn was expecting Gavin Rees to challenge for that WBA title.

4. Raymundo Beltran

Beltran has never challenged for a world title

26-6 31 year old Mexican is having a resurgence in his career, this after the biggest win of his career against then top 10 ranked Hank Lundy in July, claiming a majority decision over 10 rounds. Has lost two of his last four fights against US based prospects Bogere and Luis Ramos Jr, but the victory over Lundy has brought him into the title picture. On form this defence would hold little risks for Burns, Beltran's tough, but you would expect Burns to be far too good technically.

5. Miguel Acosta

Acosta (left) has a fan friendly style

I'm not expecting a huge name for this defence for Burns, Acosta fits the type of name who could get a title shot. The Venezuelan is a former WBA champion, but is on the slide having lost three of his last four fights. The first of those was when Brandon Rios took his title off him, and since then both Richard Abril and unbeaten Armenian Art Hovhannisyan have beaten the 34 year old, although his last fight with Art was a split decision and he did put him down. Again an opponent you'd expect Burns to beat cosily, but ranked 22nd in the world by Boxrec.

There's no doubt Frank Warren has many options for Burns, hopefully Burns v the winner of DeMarco v Broner will take place next year, but judged on these five potential opponents, there's definitely some nice appetisers out there ahead of the tasty looking main course!