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On Saturday night at the Boardwalk Hall, the house that Arturo Gatti built in Atlantic City, flashy Cincinnati native Adrien Broner displayed why he is widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the sport today with a fifth round stoppage over a tough and durable Gavin Rees in the maiden defence of the WBC Lightweight crown .
The 32 year old Rees, from Newbridge, Wales, a former World Champion at Light-Welterweight and a former British and European champion at lightweight, came into this fight a considerable betting underdog at 18-1 to derail Broner’s approach to the top.
In the opening stanzas of the bout, Rees started fast, knowing as the underdog he had very little if anything to lose in comparison to Broner, who many regard as the successor to Floyd Mayweather as the next big American star.
Rees displayed speed and tenacity, however his shots seemed to have little to effect on Broner as the self proclaimed “Problem” covered up effectively and evaluated what Rees had to offer rather than attempt to slug it with the game Welshman, who took the opening two rounds on this writer’s card.
In the third round, having seen what he needed to see, Broner started to open up, displaying the blinding hand speed and power which has made him a two weight world champion in 25 fights at the tender age of 23 years old.
Broner countered effectively against the more aggressive Rees before eventually knocking down the challenger in the fourth round from which Rees rose quickly, showing no ill effects.
In the corner of Rees, his trainer, former World Middleweight title challenger Gary Lockett, thought of pulling Rees out, but the tenacious Welshman convinced his trainer otherwise.
In the fifth and what proved to be final round, Broner continued to display his superior technical abilities and strength as he started to increase the tempo of the fight as he looked for the knockout.
After a clinch, Broner scored with a vicious left hook to the body which dropped Rees for a second time. Yet again, Rees beat the count but Broner could sense the kill and went for it, unleashing another blinding onslaught that eventually forced Lockett to wave the towel.
Although it can be argued that the stoppage was premature, as Rees was still competitive and giving his all, it was also fair and compassionate. Had the fight gone on, Broner would have likely dropped Rees once, maybe even twice more, before forcing referee Earl Brown to intervene to save a brave Rees from further unnecessary punishment.
The beating that Rees was received at the hands from Broner was so bad that it actually forced Rees’ girlfriend to leave the arena as she could no longer bear to watch. While lacking in knockout power, Rees has a good jab and decent handspeed; even after defeat his stock will have soared considerably.
At 32 years of age, Rees showed that he can still compete at world level in a Lightweight division that is still up for grabs following the departure of Juan Manuel Marquez and Brandon Rios for more lucrative match ups in the land of the Welterweights.
For Broner ,questions still remain about his ability to take shots from far stronger punchers than Rees and his stamina as he has only been to the 10th round once in a questionable decision against Daniel Ponce De Leon.
But, Broner showed why there is so much talk around him both in terms of his ring skills and showmanship outside of the ring, which can make him a divisive figure in a manner that Naseem Hamed was back in the 1990’s and Mayweather is today,.
However, Broner still remains an attraction and a problem that anyone has yet to solve.
