Spike Quick Picks

Adrien Broner vs. Ashley Theophane: Friday's junior welterweight fight between Adrien Broner (31-2, 23 KO) and Ashley Theophane (39-6-1, 11 KO) is not without controversy.  Broner is a wanted man in Ohio where he faces felony assault charges stemming from a January beating incident and on the night of the weigh-in for Friday's fight on Spike, Broner came in above the junior welterweight limit and was stripped of his WBA belt.  Theophane can still win the belt in this 12-round fight but if Broner wins the bout the belt will remain vacant.  These are just two more examples of the talented Broner not being able to stay out of his own way.  In his last six fights Broner has gone 4-2 but his wins came against lesser fighters while his losses were to Marcos Maidana and Shawn Porter.  Despite his recent stumbles when Broner is on he looks very good in the ring.  He has fast hands and solid power and he fights behind a stiff up and down jab out of the orthodox stance.  With that jab Broner has also shown a strong straight right hand and left hook and even when he isn't at his best he is still an accurate counter puncher.  The problem for Broner recently is that he isn't a high volume puncher and he will go rounds without much activity.  Also, Broner is not as good defensively as he was at lower weights and he now takes too many punches between his own counters.  As for Theophane, he is also an orthodox fighter but he carries almost no power on his punches.  Unlike Broner who sits in the pocket and tries to use shoulder rolls to block punches, Theophane likes to use his feet.  Theophane has an accurate jab and a decent straight right hand but he isn't the type of puncher to worry about.  Along with those weapons Theophane will also use a check left hook that is good at stopping opponents on the way in but doesn't do much damage to them.  Defensively Theophane does a nice job of using quick feet and head movement to avoid big punches and despite six career losses he has never been knocked out.  This fight could really come down to the state of Broner.  If he can put distractions to the side and focus on Theophane he should be able to land the harder punches throughout the fight and come out victorious.  However, if Broner isn't in great shape and is distracted by outside the ring issues he could be in for a long night because Theophane is a tricky boxer.  If Broner has any hope of getting back to the top level he can't lose to Theophane, and he won't.  It may not be pretty but Broner will come away from this fight with the unanimous decision win.


Robert Easter Jr. vs. Argenis Mendez: The co-feature for Friday's card on Spike will pit the undefeated prospect Robert Easter Jr. (16-0, 13 KO) up against veteran Argenis Mendez (23-3-1, 12 KO).  The fight is scheduled to go 10 rounds in the light division which is wide open for the taking at the moment.  Easter is a 25-year-old power punching prospect from Ohio and he is yet to face anyone of note.  Meanwhile Mendez has had some recent struggles including a knockout loss to Ranches Barthelemy that was overturned only to lose to him by the way of unanimous decision in their rematch.  Easter is very tall for his division and he fights out of the orthodox stance.  Early in his career he has shown quick hands that let him make good use of his jab and straight right hand.  He likes to fight from the outside where he can use his height to avoid punches and give himself enough room to land his power shots.  With those punches Easter also has a strong left hook, arguably his best punch.  Across the ring will be Mendez, also an orthodox fighter but without the same type of power.  Mendez keeps his lead hand very low and does not do a very good job of protecting his chin.  The jab of Mendez is solid and he follows it up nicely with his right hand but he doesn't have much power.  Mendez does move fairly well in the ring but offensively he isn't the busiest puncher and he will need to step up his efforts against a young power puncher.  While Mendez has fought the better opposition he will be at a height and power disadvantage in this fight and if Easter catches him clean it could be over quickly.  Mendez does like to counter so Easter needs to be careful not to get too aggressive because if he does Mendez may pick him apart.  However, as long as Easter remains calm he should win this fight via seventh round  stoppage.