Photo by Stephanie Trapp
After a tough loss to Marcos Maidana in December and an easy win over an undersized Carlos Molina in May, Adrien Broner (29-1, 22 KOs) showed signs of his former self when he scored a unanimous-decision victory over Emanuel Taylor (18-3, 12 KOs) at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Broner worked at a quick pace on the inside, landing shots around Taylor’s peak-a-boo stance for most of the fight, but had trouble at certain points when Taylor would be very aggressive.
Indeed, Taylor pushed the action to start the fight, landing right hands and forcing Broner to work at close range. However, Taylor’s lack of power allowed Broner to quickly adjust and land several flurries, as he did in Round four.
Taylor would present Broner with a tougher fight than expected, but he had neither the skill nor power to threaten Broner, as he was yet again the victim of powerful flurries in rounds 10 and 12, the latter of which knocked Taylor down viciously.
WATCH as @adrienbroner closes the show with a massive knockdown – http://t.co/xvG3wEymO6 #BronerTaylor
— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) September 7, 2014
Broner added an exclamation point in the final round with the knockdown, as if to send a message to the upper echelon of the 140-pound division.
Despite looking great against Taylor, Broner fought most of the fight from a stationary position, using his strength and accuracy against man without the punching power of a Lucas Matthysse or a Ruslan Provodnikov.
It will be interesting to see how he fares against the stronger punchers in his division, when his movement will be a bigger factor.
The footwork that would have helped him in his fight with Maidana was not there to be seen tonight.
In his post-fight interview with Showtime’s Jim Gray, a much less offensive Broner acknowledged Taylor’s will and skill, but also took the time to call out the 140-pound boogeyman in Matthysse.
“My next fight should be Matthysse, and he can get it,” stated Broner, “If it was up to be, I’d fight Matthysse with this cut on my eye tonight.”
Other possible fights for Broner include John Molina Jr., who gave Matthysse a tough fight and who will fight on the undercard of the rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana.
As for tonight, Broner walks away with another win.
Also, in case we’d forgotten, the after party will be at the Cameo in Cincinnati, Broner concluded.
Header photo by Naoki Fukada
