Photo by Tom Casino
Alright, it’s not exactly Graziano vs. Zale.
Adrien “Sgt. Pepper” Broner will be taking on Emmanuel Taylor on Showtime next Saturday, September 6, 2014. It’s another packed Showtime card featuring some serious heavy hitters not fighting each other.
Instead of Broner fighting say, Lucas Matthysse, or Danny Garcia, we get him vs. Taylor, who was last seen boring the Christ out of everyone defeating Karim Mayfield on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights in July. Before that, he was taken to school by avocado-loving Chris Algieri who will be destroyed by Manny Pacquiao in a couple of months.
While the horrific stench of the Garcia vs. Rod Salka card is still fresh in our nostrils, Broner will be headlining this next card. It features Matthysse vs. Roberto Ortiz, who has fought no one, and the return of Andre Berto, who has been concussed in three of his last four fights.
This is not scintillating.
Broner can wear weird shirts, talk trash about everyone, expose himself, and beat the hell out of no-hope fighters better than anyone in boxing. If that’s what he’s going for, he’s nailed it. He’s in the hall-of-fame. The problem is that it ultimately comes down to what he accomplishes in the ring. That’s the stuff people remember.
His appearances on Showtime in between fights, the ones where he talks (usually with as much coherence as Beaker from The Muppets) to Human Brillo Pad for a few minutes, are always entertaining. But the interviews are quickly forgotten. We don’t remember what he said, nor do we care.
We remember when he was pounded into the mat by Marcos Maidana. And then acted like a jackass after the fight.
We remember that he took on Carlos Molina, a guy he should have utterly destroyed, and coasted to a decision win. And then acted like a jackass after the fight.
So what can he do against Taylor to get people to stop wanting him mercilessly destroyed? It’s pretty obvious. He needs a terrific performance.
Taylor is all boxer. He’s actually got a nice jab and some skill. But he takes rounds off, and he often refuses to throw punches. Broner actually has the same problem, opting to look pretty in the shoulder-roll defense instead of attacking. That works great for Floyd Mayweather, but for Broner, it actually hurts him terribly. For one thing, his defense isn’t all that great. He gets hit. Frequently. The other issue is that it causes him to under use his best asset–his hand speed and offensive ability. He is extremely accurate with power punches, and he hits pretty hard.
For him to impress next weekend, he has to be busier than normal. He’s expected to win, so cruising to another wide decision will do nothing for him. Say what you want about Garcia, but at least he did exactly what he was supposed to do against an inferior opponent–he blasted right through him.
Broner needs that same type of performance. He needs to go to work and rip Taylor apart. More violence, less dancing and thrusting. Actually, no thrusting at all please. Ever again.
If he puts on a sensational performance, he’ll at least have some momentum carrying over into his next fight, which will hopefully be against a top-rated fighter. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, though if you ask Al Haymon, he’d say otherwise. And then have you shot and dumped in a field somewhere in Wisconsin.
“The Problem” has had quite a few lately, from his drubbing at the hands of Maidana, to his lackluster performances against Molina and Paulie Malignaggi, to his utter insistence on acting like a moron.
He seems to have pulled back a bit, perhaps catching on to the fact that the boxing public will only tolerate so much, especially if you start losing fights. Maybe he’s aware of the fact that he hasn’t looked sharp in several bouts. If so, he’s certainly got the tools to be a force anywhere from lightweight to welterweight.
The question is when exactly is a premier matchup going to happen? We’re not really sure how the actually decent viewership numbers for Garcia vs. The Rod will affect things going forward. It probably would have been better for us if the ratings were roughly those of an NHL game in Jackson, Mississippi. Showtime may feel free now to throw out several more “showcase” cards. Showcase is a cute word for “fighting a guy who will get destroyed and make our fighter look super awesome.”
Hopefully, this isn’t the case.
Hopefully, Broner’s next fight has some buildup and excitement. That hasn’t exactly been there for this bout, which is probably why Broner thought it would be hilarious to claim he was actually fighting someone else, less than two weeks before his scheduled match. While a fight with Lamont Peterson would probably be a decent scrap, it isn’t happening, at least not yet. And who knows, maybe Emanuel Taylor will be a bigger threat to Broner than we think.
Maybe Broner just isn’t that good.
We’ll find out on September 6, for better or worse.
Some Random Notes From Last Weekend:
While many people were watching Austin Trout and Daniel Dawson go life-and-death on ESPN’s FNF, I was watching two heavyweights snore all over each other. The knockdowns might be the best thing to happen to Trout, who had to get off the floor and prove his mettle. He did it in resounding fashion. Losing isn’t the worst thing. The worst thing is the dreaded “boring” label. That’s why Arturo Gatti was must-see-tv regardless of his record, and why Guillermo Rigondeaux is slotted in between the Modified Chess Championships and European Goat Racing.
Tino Avila, however, is some solid entertainment. The kid is relentless. More of him, please.
Apparently, Floyd Mayweather lacks the ability to read well. Luckily for him, he’s the best fighter on the planet and makes insane amounts of money to embarrass guys in the ring. Strange that all this happens two weeks before one of his fights in which the buildup has been lackluster and his recent PPV sales have slumped…
Wladamir Klitschko was apparently injured during a training session and his fight against who cares is now postponed until who cares.
Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri started their press tour in Macau, China. Of course, their stare-down ended in fits of giggles. Who else wishes Pacquiao would snap once after giggling and bite off somebody’s nose while everyone watches in horror? Maybe it’s just me.
Header photo by Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images
