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Saturday, December 14, 2013, Golden Boy Promotions and Showtime Boxing closed the year with a bang as Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Adrien Broner (27-1, 22 KOs) in what proved to be a twelve-round war.
The fight began with Maidana lunging for the fences and wasting no time in allowing Broner to assimilate to his surroundings. Maidana landed a solid shot that made Broner’s legs wobble in the first round. Then, in an even more exciting turn, Broner was knocked down for the first time in his career by a Maidana left hook.
Broner spent the rest of the round trying to recover. His demeanor suggested that he needed Maidana to at least believe he wasn’t bothered by the pressure. Maidana easily controlled the first three rounds, while Broner gradually looked better in the fourth and fifth rounds.
The fight was growing closer and Broner seemed to be finding his rhythm. However, Maidana found his second wind in the eighth round as he increased his offense and landed a solid left hook that knocked Broner down for the second time in his career.
The knockdown was mired in controversy as Maidana headbutted Broner in a clinch that ensued soon after the knockdown. Broner used this opportunity to indulge in a bit of histrionics, falling to the floor and wincing in pain. The referee was forced to deduct a point, and rightfully so.
However, it was the referee’s job to separate both fighters as they clinched. It was Maidana’s opportunity to close the show and Broner was all too eager to clinch and avoid another exchange.
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The final round began with both trading in the center of the ring. Broner was aware that he needed a knockdown to win, and Maidana’s fatigue allowed Broner to walk him down.
It was a risky move, and Broner was buckled by a left hook he received coming forward, but the fight nevertheless ended with Maidana on his backfoot.
Maidana outpunched and outworked Broner to earn a unanimous decision with the judges scoring (115-110, 116-109, 117-109). In the post-fight interview, Maidana admitted he was hurt in the eleventh round and that “[Broner] is a good fighter.”
Maidana is now the WBA Welterweight champion, and now joins the list of welterweight champions that includes Shawn Porter, Timothy Bradley, and Floyd Mayweather.
It was an amazing end to an exciting year for boxing. As Al Bernstein suggested, this year has been the best year for boxing in the last twenty-five years.
The co-main event also began explosively when Keith Thurman (22-0, 20 KOs) was nearly wobbled in the first round by Jesus Soto Karass (28-9-3, 18 KOs) by an overhand right hand.
By the end of the round, though, Thurman re-established his jab, used his footwork, and managed to step back and counter after Soto Karass would throw his punches.Thurman simply did not stop from moving, and he rarely allowed Soto Karass to set his feet properly to land punches.
Thurman managed to switch from his defensive footwork to his offensive combinations, which allowed him to knock Soto Karass down with a left uppercut in the fifth round.
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Thurman’s boxing ability eventually wore Soto Karass down and forced the referee to stop the fight after landing a solid left hook and right hand that essentially knocked Soto Karass out before he hit the ground.
Thurman stated that he was ready for whatever fans want. Fights with Shawn Porter, Paulie Malignaggi, and Marcos Maidana are all possibilities.
Leo Santa Cruz (26-0, 15 KOs) made the first defense of his WBC Super Bantamweight title against a smaller fighter in Cesar Seda (25-2, 17 KOs).
Santa Cruz stalked Seda from the opening seconds of the first round with a peek-a-boo stance that made him look as if he were a smaller version of former Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito.
Seda, a southpaw, moved up in weight to challenge for Santa Cruz’s title and was clearly the smaller fighter. Seda used his footwork to try to keep Santa Cruz off of him, but Santa Cruz was relentless in his offense.
After both stood toe-to-toe to trade body shots in seventh and after Seda was hurt by a right hand in the ninth, Seda looked as if he were wearing down.
Despite this, he continued to box Seda into the twelfth round against a man who threw over 800 punches. Santa Cruz’s relentless offense helped him win this fight.
The first televised fight featured WBA and IBA Light Heavyweight Champion Beibut Shumenov (14-1, 9 KOs) as he defended his titles against Tamas Kovacs (21-1, 14 KOs).
Kovacs, who was ranked 14th by the World Boxing Association, “didn’t bring much to the table” as Showtime commentator Paulie Malignaggi admitted.
Indeed, Kovacs was knocked down in the first and second round before finally being knocked out in the third.
When asked about unifying the division in a possible fight with Bernard Hopkins, Shumenov stated that it “would be an honor to fight a truly legendary fighter.”
A somewhat diplomatic Hopkins responded by stating “It would be an honor to take his belt.” Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev, who have the WBC and WBO titles respectively, were not mentioned.
[slideshow_deploy id=’10919′] Photo by Rocky Martinez/Getty Images
