Bragging rights in the state of Ohio are up for grabs when Adrien Broner and Shawn Porter face off in Saturday night’s Premier Boxing Champions. Broner is a star in the making with slick boxing and the swagger of a confident champion. Porter is a bullish fighter, often rushing to knock opponents’ heads off their shoulders.
Who prevails in this classic matchup of the bull (Porter) and the matador (Broner)? Read on as we break down the weekend’s premier boxing match. If you’re up for more fisticuffs, check out the complete preview for UFC Fight Night 69 on Saturday afternoon.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Adrien Broner vs. Shawn Porter Preview
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
When: Saturday, June 20, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Adrien Broner vs. Shawn Porter – view all Boxing lines
Betting on Adrien Broner
Adrien Broner seems to have everything it takes to rise up as one of boxing’s next stars. He’s a slick defensive boxer capable of punishing his opponents with the most opportune counters. Broner is 30-1 in his professional career with 22 knockouts.
But Broner’s power doesn’t seem to translate too well since moving up to the welterweight division. Since moving up a weight class, “The Problem” has won just one fight by TKO in February 2013. He’s gone the distance in all five of his fights since then.
[sc:Other240banner ]Broner looks like a lighter version of pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather Jr. He adopts the same stance as Mayweather and utilizes almost the same set of defensive strategies, but this is where he’s flawed. Broner’s shoulder roll leaves much to be desired. He also regularly leans back instead of using lateral movement to circle out of the way of incoming punches, which makes him a very hittable target.
“The Problem” can also be very tentative if his opponent doesn’t push the pace. Broner doesn’t possess a good jab to initiate some offense or to keep pressure fighters away from him. Speaking of pressure fighters, Broner’s only professional loss came against such a boxer in Marcos Maidana.
The Argentine boxer dropped Broner twice in their December 2013 bout. Maidana also outlanded Broner 269 to 149 in punches. That spells trouble for the talented boxer. Broner faces who should be a bigger and more powerful version of Maidana in Shawn Porter.
Broner is on a three-fight win streak heading into this bout.
Betting on Shawn Porter
This fight is Shawn Porter’s to lose. He’s the bigger, stronger fighter with a style tailor-fit to defeat the brash Broner. But the fight will happen at a catchweight of 144 pounds. There’s also a rehydration clause in the contract that would limit each fighter to fight at no more than 155 lbs. come fight night. If Porter becomes too sluggish due to the weight restrictions, then Broner may be able to out-point him to victory.
Porter is at his best when he pushes the pace and forces his opponents into phone booth fights. He has 16 stoppages out of 25 victories and has lost just once in his career. Porter is also explosive and quick for a man his size, capable of darting in to land lunging right hooks or straights to his opponents’ bodies. He has knocked out two of his last three opponents.
Porter can struggle against slicker boxers, though. He showed this in a majority decision loss to Kell Brook in August 2014. Porter was the busier fighter, throwing 626 punches. He landed just 154 punches to Brook’s 158. But if Porter can take Brook’s punches and keep moving forward, then he should be able to deal with Broner’s lack of power in the welterweight division. Expect Porter to repeatedly push the pace and swarm Broner with a never-ending stream of punches.
Writer’s Prediction
Porter wins by unanimous decision. Create a betting account now and win big on boxing’s biggest fights all year round.
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