Adrien Broner Vs Shawn Porter: Broner Must Not Have Learned Lesson From the Marcos Maidana Fight

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By Travis “Novel” Fleming

In an odd, high risk choice, the brash and popular three weight world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner, 30-1, 22 KO’s, has signed to fight former welterweight world titlist Shawn Porter, 25-1-1, 16 KO’s, on June 20th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada as a part of Al Haymon’s “Premiere Boxing Champions” series. The bout will be broadcasted on NBC, and will be the biggest free major network card since Al Haymon orchestrated boxing’s glorious return to major network television earlier this year.

Broner receives a lot of criticism due to his cocky, flashy personality. He’s outspoken, rude, rehashes the same played out quotes over and over again, and has no problem making a fool of himself by breaking out into a dance routine, or rapping his way into the ring. It’s easy to see why he is one of the more disliked boxers out there. Personally, I find him to be a fun loving, larger than life personality that entertains me with his unpredictable nonsense, but I get that I’m in the minority here. I’ve known friends with Broner type personalities and, although they’re usually full of it, there’s no denying that they’re the life of the party.

There are many things to criticize when it comes to Adrien Broner, but heart isn’t one of them as he is once again proving by taking a fight absolutely no one was calling for, against a much bigger man in Shawn Porter. This is the definition of a high risk bout, and I’m confused as to why Broner took it, but I give him kudos for his ill-advised ambition.

This is the same Broner who made the ridiculous jump of three weight divisions in a year to take on the most powerful man three weights up in Marcos Maidana. He took a beating from the much larger Maidana, but showed a lot of heart in getting up from two knockdowns and mounting a small comeback that was too little, too late. Prior to this bout, Broner had a close fight with light punching Paulie Malignaggi in his first fight at 147 lbs. These were Broner’s only two fights at 147 lbs, and although he didn’t look terrible, it showed that he was overly ambitious in jumping three weight classes, and hadn’t yet developed into a real welterweight. Broner realized that this was the case, and dropped down in weight to junior welterweight, where he is much better suited and not undersized. Most recently, he looked great in shutting out John Molina in a dominating performance over a man that just gave Lucas Matthysse the most brutal fight of his career.

Broner would have been wise to stay at junior welterweight and win a title there, while he gradually grew into becoming a full fledged welterweight, but once again his ego has gotten the best of him and he is risking a major career setback by facing Shawn Porter, who has spent most of his career at junior middleweight! Apparently Broner didn’t learn his lesson during his first foray to welterweight, and is too eager to take the fast track back to the top, instead of wisely biding his time at 140 lbs until he’s proved he is ready for the move up to welter. Even in doing that, he would be wise to face a smaller, or at least less powerful, welterweight to test the waters, someone like Robert Guerrerro. By choosing Porter, he is making the same mistake as he did when he chose Marcos Maidana.

Porter and Maidana are very similar, so unless Broner has developed, and seriously improved, in the short time between now and his late 2013 fight with Maidana, Shawn Porter might as well adapt Broner’s nickname, because he’s going to be a big “problem” for “the problem”. Like Maidana, Porter is naturally much bigger, hits very hard, isn’t afraid to throw a dirty punch or headbutt, throws a high volume of punches, and has an awkward style. He’s as close to Maidana as they come, so if Broner pulls off an unexpected win here, he will make a good case for having a shot at reversing his only career loss in a rematch with Maidana.

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is an odd venue choice as both men are from Ohio, and it was rumored that Broner’s next fight was going to be in his hometown of Cincinnati, where this fight would have been a huge battle of the best from Ohio. Instead, they’re making their fans travel over halfway across the country to Las Vegas! It doesn’t make a ton of sense, but boxing fans will get to tune in for free on what should be the highest rated major network card of the year on NBC.

The only thing Broner has on his side in this fight is that instead of the fight taking place at the full welterweight limit of 147 lbs, it is being held at a catchweight of 144 lbs. The hope for team Broner is that the much bigger Porter will be weakened by the weight loss. Unfortunately for Broner, Porter is a fitness freak that stays in the gym in between fights and, like Floyd Mayweather Jr, doesn’t balloon to much higher than his division’s weight limit in between bouts. Porter will likely be the same Porter we have always seen, with the only difference being that in Broner he’ll have the advantage of facing one of the smaller fighters he has fought. Being a physically imposing fighter like Porter, this looks to be another advantage for him. Both Porter and his father have expressed that they will make weight with ease, without being compromised.

Thank god for boxing coming back to free TV with great competitive match ups. Will Broner notch a career defining win, or will he once again succumb to the size disadvantage when facing a naturally bigger man?

Official prediction: Porter by Unanimous Decision
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