Adrien Broner : The next big thing in boxing ??
Posted: 16 Jun 2013, 13:09
Ok, so let's talk Adrien Broner. This is a fighter who is 23 years of age and if he beats Malignaggi on the 22nd June, he will become a three time, three weight world champion. Having already won world championships at Super-Featherweight and Lightweight, Broner is moving up two weight classes to take on Malignaggi for a version of the welterweight crown. Now, some may say, so what in this day and age of the alphabet titles and multi-weight divisions, but all that considered, it's still a good achievement for someone so young. Broner seems to be dividing opinion amongst boxing fans. Not only on his boxing ability, but also on his personlaity and general demeanor. This is a guy who wears flamboyant ring wear, large sunglasses and a perma-smile to light up a room. He raps his own songs upon entry to the ring and then does a wobble dance in the ring, upon rendering his victims incapacitated. For some, his style is nauseating and a little embaressing, taking too much from the persona of Floyd Mayweather to be totally authentic and original. But how good is Broner ??
Adrien Broner has had 26 fights and has won every one of them. He is a current two weight world champion, having won belts at Super-featherweight and Lightweight divisions respectively. Broner has fast hands, he is an offensive fighter and he has good power too. I have seen around 13 Broner fights and have seen how he has developed. At the beginning to the mid point of his career, Broner was too busy with his work. He threw lots of punches that missed and seemed obsessed with showing his speed and power as early as he could in a bout. He also had a defence that was quite traditional, with a hands high style. As his career has progressed, Broner has matured his style. He is an offensive fighter, but these days he is more controlled in his approach. Out has gone the wild swinging punches. He has shortened up his punches and punches less often but with more accuracy. He walks his opponent down these days and uses a more Philly style defence, with the left shoulder crouched, the elbow low and the right hand covering his face, akin to the style prefered by Mayweather.
A lot has been made of the supposed differences in style of Broner and Mayweather. I think Nazim Richardson got it about right, when he said that Mayweather was a defensive fighter with an exceptional offence, where as Broner was an offensive fighter with an exceptional defence. One of the criticisms of Broner's style has been the wide stance that he uses. This seems to be used primarily to create the leverage needed in his punches for power, but the stance makes it difficult for him to change position quickly, especially when moving backwards, ie, he is a little too static in the ring. Some would also point to the calibre of fighters that Broner has fought. Broner seems to have fought some tough but not exceptionally gifted fighters. For an example, Gamboa now operates at lightweight and Rios at light-welterweight and yet Broner hasn't stuck around to fight those guys or been intent on clearing out a division before moving up weight classes. Maybe he sees more lucrative pickings at the welterweight division assuming he comes through his bout with Malignaggi.
Having watched thirteen of his bouts, i think Broner was quite fortunate to get decision wins over Quintero and Ponce De Leon. Broner seems to struggle with fighters who counter-punch and move. He is a natural counter-puncher himself and likes his opponents to come to him. If he has to go looking for his opponent it makes it a more difficult fight for him, where as what he prefers is a fighter like Rees who can stand in front of, walk down and pot shot into submission. Another criticism of Broner is that he is a single shot fighter who doesn't put combinations together. This however seems to be linked with what has been suggested above, in that any opposition fighter who has some lateral movement and can throw two / three shot combinations, will reduce Broner to one punch pot shots. Broner seems to work best behind a busy jab and becomes more effective that way. So, there you have a short analysis of Adrien Broner. What do you honestly think ? Do you believe that he has the skill sets, plus the personality to be the next big thing in boxing ??
Quix
Adrien Broner has had 26 fights and has won every one of them. He is a current two weight world champion, having won belts at Super-featherweight and Lightweight divisions respectively. Broner has fast hands, he is an offensive fighter and he has good power too. I have seen around 13 Broner fights and have seen how he has developed. At the beginning to the mid point of his career, Broner was too busy with his work. He threw lots of punches that missed and seemed obsessed with showing his speed and power as early as he could in a bout. He also had a defence that was quite traditional, with a hands high style. As his career has progressed, Broner has matured his style. He is an offensive fighter, but these days he is more controlled in his approach. Out has gone the wild swinging punches. He has shortened up his punches and punches less often but with more accuracy. He walks his opponent down these days and uses a more Philly style defence, with the left shoulder crouched, the elbow low and the right hand covering his face, akin to the style prefered by Mayweather.
A lot has been made of the supposed differences in style of Broner and Mayweather. I think Nazim Richardson got it about right, when he said that Mayweather was a defensive fighter with an exceptional offence, where as Broner was an offensive fighter with an exceptional defence. One of the criticisms of Broner's style has been the wide stance that he uses. This seems to be used primarily to create the leverage needed in his punches for power, but the stance makes it difficult for him to change position quickly, especially when moving backwards, ie, he is a little too static in the ring. Some would also point to the calibre of fighters that Broner has fought. Broner seems to have fought some tough but not exceptionally gifted fighters. For an example, Gamboa now operates at lightweight and Rios at light-welterweight and yet Broner hasn't stuck around to fight those guys or been intent on clearing out a division before moving up weight classes. Maybe he sees more lucrative pickings at the welterweight division assuming he comes through his bout with Malignaggi.
Having watched thirteen of his bouts, i think Broner was quite fortunate to get decision wins over Quintero and Ponce De Leon. Broner seems to struggle with fighters who counter-punch and move. He is a natural counter-puncher himself and likes his opponents to come to him. If he has to go looking for his opponent it makes it a more difficult fight for him, where as what he prefers is a fighter like Rees who can stand in front of, walk down and pot shot into submission. Another criticism of Broner is that he is a single shot fighter who doesn't put combinations together. This however seems to be linked with what has been suggested above, in that any opposition fighter who has some lateral movement and can throw two / three shot combinations, will reduce Broner to one punch pot shots. Broner seems to work best behind a busy jab and becomes more effective that way. So, there you have a short analysis of Adrien Broner. What do you honestly think ? Do you believe that he has the skill sets, plus the personality to be the next big thing in boxing ??
Quix
