By: Sean Crose
The first fight that aired on Showtime Saturday night from Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center featured rising star Jemall Charlo, a 25-0 first time middleweight, facing off against Jorge Sebastian Heiland a 29-4-2 Argentine who had previously defeated the likes of Austin Trout and Cornelius Bundridge. It was all Charlo, right from the beginning. He dominated the first, dropped Heiland in the second and then cruised through the third. Heiland, who had clearly hurt his leg, was taken out his misery by the referee in round four. Charlo is clearly looking for bigger things and made it obvious he’s ready to take on Gennady Golovkin, should the Kazakh terror best Mexican star Canelo Alvarez when the two meet in a September superfight.
Photo Credit: Showtime Boxing
It was time for the main event. Adrien Broner was looking at what may well have been his last chance at superstardom by stepping into the ring with lightweight titlist Mikey Garcia, who was making his junior welterweight debut. As for Garcia – this was his time to truly step into the stoplight. Garcia entered the ring looking supremely confident. Broner came in looking relaxed and healthy. It remained to be seen how good the fight would be – but on paper it was some kind of matchup.
And indeed, it was a decent enough fight. It was one sided, though. In fact, it was clear at the end of twelve rounds that Garcia had clearly beaten his man up. Broner had his moments, of course, but there just weren’t enough. Indeed, the one-two combinations Garcia pierced Broner’s guard with told the tale of the night. Those and the thudding body shots Garcia regularly landed to Broner’s body. The judges didn’t even manage to screw up this time…Garcia won by an easy unanimous decision. Sure enough, Broner clapped in approval of Garcia’s performance after the decision was announced.
“When you get inside the ring with me, you find out my timing’s just a step in front of them,” said Garcia after the bout. The man certainly looked impressive. Strength. Confidence. Relentlessness. Such assets told the tale. As for Broner, the man didn’t look bad. Honestly. This author believes Broner can still be a major force – provided the guy gets a new trainer. Broner is loyal to his team. That’s impressive. But he must move on in order to move on.
“If I fight tomorrow, everyone in this motherfucker will still come to see me,” Broner said after the loss. Maybe that’s true. If the man wants a successful career, however, people are going to have to see him win some major fights.