Our resident boxing writer Diego Morilla serves up a full weekend wrap-up of the most relevant boxing events in the worldwide scene. Every fight that matters is right here, in one place, and at one click away. Follow Morilla on Twitter at @MorillaBoxing
San Antonio, Dec. 14
Marcos Maidana UD 12 Adrien Broner, WBA welterweight title
Talk about a major upset. True: this one was expected to be a close and hard-fought affair, but nothing could forecast Maidana’s dominance and Broner’s utter humiliation through 12 punishing rounds in which the challenger scored his biggest victory to date. Broner (27-1, 22 KO) was being groomed as Floyd Mayweather’s heir apparent, but he was overrun by a man on a mission in Maidana (35-3, 31 KO) in what already was shaping up one of the grudge matches of the year. Broner was never able to get into any kind of rhythm, as he was simply smothered with punches by Maidana, who totally neglected his jab and went on to outscore his opponent in a 2-to-1 ratio. Maidana floored Broner in rounds 2 and 8, and had him in serious trouble in several occasions, especially in a terrific 9th round. Broner was only able to connect 150 punches in what will be remembered as one of his worst performances so far, and one that should put his entire career in revision mode. It wasn’t the most attractive fight of the year, but it will definitely go down as one of the most significant in terms of its meaning for the division and for boxing at large.
The winner goes on to: Broner was considered a “poor man’s Mayweather”. Maybe it’s time to tap his richer cousin for another classic boxer vs. puncher showdown, or maybe a Khan-Maidana rematch with the winner challenging Floyd.
