Heavy Action At Lightweight: DeMarco vs. Broner
Live on tonight’s edition of HBO’s World Championship Boxing, we will see a doubleheader from the famed Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
In the main event, we will see former Super Featherweight champion, the talented and charismatic Adrien “The Problem” Broner, (24-0-0 20 KO’s), go head to head with Mexican warrior Antonio DeMarco, (28-2-1 21 KO’s), over twelve rounds for DeMarco’s newly-captured WBC Lightweight strap.
It will also be Broner’s debut in the division after reportedly struggling to make weight for his last couple of fights.
In the co-headlining bout of the night, powerful American Heavyweight prospect Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell (25-0-1 19 KO’s) will look to pass a decent test in the form of Johnathan Banks (28-1-1 18 KO’s) in a twelve round WBC Semi-final eliminator.
The televised opener between Mitchell and Banks is not all that intriguing or competitive on paper, but Banks is a legit contender in the lower part of the division.
However, most pundits clearly see him as an inferior fighter in comparison to the hard-hitting Mitchell, although Banks is one of the best on Mitchell’s short resume. A Mitchell stoppage victory is the popular vote for this contest.
The main event has a particularly interesting contrast of styles. DeMarco, the champion, is known for being a television friendly brawler as proven last time against John Molina Jr in an astonishing one round beatdown and also slightly over a year ago when DeMarco captured the title in a come from behind knockout of Jorge Linares.
In the other corner, Broner is known for being cocky and charismatic but conversely, he actually backs it up. His handspeed, power, accuracy and flashy defensive tactics are to be applauded.
Many people believe that Broner has the advantages, never really having faced much adversity in his career even against some of the stiff opposition at Super Featherweight.
DeMarco doesn’t seem to have the skill to possibly change that for Broner but it will depend on DeMarco showing that excellent heart he has to win, as proven against Linares. No matter how outclassed he possibly is, DeMarco will always keep pushing forward just to get another victory.
I am reluctant to make a prediction here because DeMarco manages to prove me wrong on most occasions when I pick him to lose, but I simply see him as a more “Beatable” opponent compared to Broner.
The proof is in DeMarco’s first ten brutal rounds against Linares and his dominant loss to the violent Edwin Valero a few years ago. I predict that Broner will win a late stoppage or well-clarified decision.
DeMarco is a warrior and will fight until the bitter end but I think that Broner will punch well at angles and slowly tear apart his offensive-minded opponent.
No matter what the result, be sure to tune in to HBO’s World Championship Boxing live tomorrow at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST for this doubleheader, once again presented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
United Kingdom viewers may also watch on the home of British boxing, Boxnation.
Corey Quincy is a freelance boxing writer for Saddoboxing.com, his blog Blboxing.com and other sites. Like his page on Facebook at Boxing Legends and follow him on Twitter at Quincyboxingfan