This weekend on Saturday night July 29 Live from the Barclays Center on Showtime, all the talk comes to an end and the leather shall fly.
Garcia versus Broner is finally here so let’s dig in and break down this clash between the powerful punching tactician and the strong heavy handed boxer.
Let’s start with Adrien Broner, Broner enters this match with a stellar 33-2 record that includes 24 knockouts.
Broner is the victor of six of his last seven fights, and is coming off a February win over the very game Adrian Granados in a fight that could have gone either way.
Broner’s last and second career loss was to Shawn Porter, Porter is a rough and tough aggressive fighter that beat Broner by bringing the pressure to Broner by dragging him into a dog fight.
Because of Broner’s loss to Porter and his very close win over Grenados, Broner now finds himself as a big underdog against Garcia.
So needless to say that I am expecting Broner to be at his very best to prove to his biggest critics that he belongs in the mix as one of the top welterweights in the world.
The 28 years old Broner flashes blazing fast hand speed and along with his athletic ability and strength each punch is explosive.
My biggest problem with Broner is his wide stance that often gets him caught with unnecessary shots due to bad feet placement.
Broner also a lot of the times seems to get away from his fight plan and then becomes too passive. In short, Broner becomes his own big problem, the kid is a wild card.
Now on to Mikey Garcia, Garcia will enter this fight with a flawless 36-0 record that includes 30 killer knockouts. Garcia is coming off a January highlight reel knockout win over Dejan Zlaticanin.
Garcia is a 29-year-old boxer who many observers see as one of the top 5 pound for pound fighters currently in the sport.
Mikey Garcia has a high boxing IQ and is a very patient tactical boxer who is also known for his devastating punching power. Garcia at times to me is a bit too patient and misses striking opportunities as he waits his opponents out to find openings.
This is really a 50/50 fight to me and a case can be made for either fighter. Reason why I do not see this fight as wide as the odds show, is because a fighter that gives Broner hell is a fighter with no identity.
Ponce De Leon, Maidana, Porter, and Grenados all troubled Broner because they were very aggressive and pressed Broner and their punch selection was unpredictable.
In Garcia there is no real mystery to his flow, Garcia will walk towards his prey while picking his spots.
Garcia must stay firing his lethal jab and find ways to frustrate Broner just enough to force Broner to over think his every move that will wear Broner down mentally and physically.
Thing is that if Garcia chooses to box more aggressive, it would make Garcia fight outside of who he is and may find himself walking into unseen big shots.
Another mistake that Broner makes is that he does not dip when in his shoulder roll defensive stance, this will be a major problem for him when Garcia fires out thunderous right handed punches over the top.
On the inside, Garcia will be right there to be hit cleanly with one of Broner’s heavy handed uppercuts.
All signs point towards Garcia to beat and possibly stop Broner dead in his tracks, but I have a gut feeling that Broner may be too big for Garcia and better suited for this 140 pound clash.
The safe pick is to take the smarter technically sound fighter in Garcia, but if your thing is to go with the underdogs, well Broner is a very Live one in this dog fight.
So as I flip this coin, I am taking Broner to take a very close split decision win.
