By Kirk Jackson
Adrien “The Problem” Broner averted disaster as he edged out a close victory over rugged, Emmanuel Taylor this past weekend, improving his record to 29-1 (22 KO’s) in front of his hometown fans at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
It was spectacular fight to cap off a night of come back victories for some of boxing’s biggest names. For Lucas Matthysse, the tough Argentine continues his comeback trail after losing to Danny Garcia last year in their epic clash.
For Andre Berto, he tasted victory for the first time in three years.
But the night was about Broner. He had to dig deep to beat Taylor and ended is the fight scoring an impressive knock down over Taylor in the closing seconds of round 12.
Underneath Broner’s arrogance and flash lies the heart of a champion. With his exceptional talent, the sky is the limit for the young star.
It’s just the matter of realizing his potential. Watching him can be frustrating, because up at times he can display boxing brilliance. Take round 4 for example.
In that round against Taylor, Broner displayed amazing foot work, ring presence, used his jab brilliantly and threw effective combinations.
He looks nearly unbeatable when he fights in that matter. Instead, Broner tends to fight flat footed, he’ll lean against the ropes for an extended period of time, have stretches of inactivity, meanwhile allowing opponents to tally up points because of their own offensive output.
Broner could get away with doing that at lightweight because of his superior athleticism and power against the crop of 135 pounders. He discovered more difficulty maintaining that style as he moved up in weight and faced bigger and better competition. Ask Marcos Maidana.
Some fighters, such as a Floyd Mayweather or Bernard Hopkins can get away with fighting a punch conservative, in the pocket style, because they both possess impeccable defense and rarely get hit with clean punches.
Broner however, despite his talents has yet to master the art of defense. Which leads to the next point.
Adrien Broner pound-for-pound may be the no. 1 most entertaining fighter in the sport.
In the ring, he is an enigma, because we never know what we’re going to get from him. His defensive vulnerabilities and his expertise portraying the villain role make must see television because people will tune in just to root against him.
Outside the ring, it’s also unsure what we’ll see from the young star as he is unpredictable as they come.
Maybe he’ll release a series of rap albums or sex tapes. Maybe he’ll save a baby from a burning building, one can never tell with Broner.
He talks a bunch of trash and calls out fighters. Honestly, who else really does that?
Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather rarely call fighters out if ever. To be fair, with their stature in the sport of boxing, they do not necessarily have to call anyone out.
But Broner will. On national television at that. He called out Matthysse and seemed sincere with his request to fight power-punching machine from Argentina.
Remember last year, Broner did wage war on Argentina, although his first battle against Maidana was unsuccessful.
The chances of beating Matthysse may be slim to none. But you have to respect the fact Broner seems willing to fight Matthysse and seems willing to fight anyone. Which also makes for interesting television.