NEW YORK -- Despite recent losses and seemingly constant legal trouble, Adrien Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) still manages to find himself headlining high profile cards. On April 21 he was supposed to challenge Omar Figueroa but a shoulder injury forced the former champion to pull out of the fight. Now Broner will take on Jessie Vargas (28-2, 10 KOs) in a non-title bout scheduled to go 12 rounds at a catchweight of 144 pounds on Showtime.
It seems like a lifetime ago that Broner was considered to possibly be the next Floyd Mayweather and face of boxing. In reality it was only about five years ago, but time has not be kind to Broner. He has three losses in his last 10 fights and those losses came against the best competition he faced: Marcos Maidana, Shawn Porter, and Mikey Garcia.
What made Broner great years ago was his mix of skill and power. He fights out of the orthodox stance and in his younger days he was sharp defensively and had both speed and power on his punches. However, at a certain point Broner bought into the hype. He usually gains a lot of weight between fights and fancies himself a rapper. As he went up in weight his punch output dropped significantly and he relied on his power alone to win him fights. Broner still flashes a strong left hook and excellent uppercut but his defense has fallen off and back-to-back losses would really hurt him, despite being a four division world champion who is still just 28 years old.
In this fight Vargas will have a 2-inch reach advantage and a huge 4-inch height advantage but those advantages won't help him if he doesn't use them properly. Vargas is an orthodox fighter with a good jab and while his left hook is only decent he does have another weapon, his right hand. Vargas will throw that right hand overhand or straight and despite not having big knockout numbers he can do serious damage with it.
Like Broner, Vargas is a former world champion looking to climb his way back to the top. His biggest win to date was a stoppage victory over the previously unbeaten Sadam Ali but he followed that up by getting dominated by Manny Pacquiao. Yet even when he is down on the cards Vargas has shown he can be dangerous until the final bell, just ask Timothy Bradley.
This fight should be a good one simply because both guys need the win. Vargas like to apply the pressure and he should try to control the distance with his jab while he looks to set Broner up for big right hands. Meanwhile, Broner has to be more active than he has in recent bouts. Vargas isn't great defensively but he's never been knocked out so Broner can't simply rely on his power. If Broner can get inside and let his hands go while also countering from the outside he should get the better of most of their exchanges.
PREDICTION: Jessie Vargas is a good fighter who has gotten a lot out of his skills. He certainly won't make this an easy night for Adrien Broner but he won't get the victory either. Broner will be more active than usual in this fight and he will close the show strong on his way to a close but clear unanimous decision.
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| Broner splitting the guard of Mikey Garcia |
What made Broner great years ago was his mix of skill and power. He fights out of the orthodox stance and in his younger days he was sharp defensively and had both speed and power on his punches. However, at a certain point Broner bought into the hype. He usually gains a lot of weight between fights and fancies himself a rapper. As he went up in weight his punch output dropped significantly and he relied on his power alone to win him fights. Broner still flashes a strong left hook and excellent uppercut but his defense has fallen off and back-to-back losses would really hurt him, despite being a four division world champion who is still just 28 years old.
In this fight Vargas will have a 2-inch reach advantage and a huge 4-inch height advantage but those advantages won't help him if he doesn't use them properly. Vargas is an orthodox fighter with a good jab and while his left hook is only decent he does have another weapon, his right hand. Vargas will throw that right hand overhand or straight and despite not having big knockout numbers he can do serious damage with it.
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| Vargas catching Sadam Ali with a big right hand |
This fight should be a good one simply because both guys need the win. Vargas like to apply the pressure and he should try to control the distance with his jab while he looks to set Broner up for big right hands. Meanwhile, Broner has to be more active than he has in recent bouts. Vargas isn't great defensively but he's never been knocked out so Broner can't simply rely on his power. If Broner can get inside and let his hands go while also countering from the outside he should get the better of most of their exchanges.
PREDICTION: Jessie Vargas is a good fighter who has gotten a lot out of his skills. He certainly won't make this an easy night for Adrien Broner but he won't get the victory either. Broner will be more active than usual in this fight and he will close the show strong on his way to a close but clear unanimous decision.
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