Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) is ready to do whatever it takes for him to beat Adrien “The Problem” Broner (33-2, 24 KOs) next month on July 29 in their fight on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Broner and Mikey met-up on Monday for their New York press conference.
Mikey was staring holes through Broner’s face when the two of them stood for the face-off during the press conference. Broner, 27, kept his sunglasses on and looked like he wanted no part of the stare down. Broner is usually aggressive with his opponents during his press conferences. It was interesting to see Broner looking unsure of him, nervous, and not the usual cocky that portrays at his press conferences.
This is a make or break fight for Broner. He’s already lost to Shawn Porter and Marcos Maidana. Broner didn’t take as much heat in those defeats as he should have due to him starting his career out at featherweight. Broner was facing guys that were bigger than him to start with. However, there will be no excuse for Broner if he loses to Mikey Garcia, because he’s bigger than him and that takes away the size excuse that he might use if he loses the fight.
This is an important fight for the 29-year-old Mikey, as it’s a giant step towards the superstardom that eluded him thus far in his 11-year pro career. Mikey would almost surely be a big star right now if he hadn’t lost 2 ½ years of his career in a promotional issue with his former promoters. That’s like the valuable years Muhammad Ali lost in the prime of his career after he chose not to be drafted into the armed forces.
Broner, 27, is seen as the underdog in this fight, and he’s thriving on that fight, as he’s mostly been the favorite in his fights. Broner has lost twice in the past to Shawn Porter and Marcos Maidana, but those were fights against guys that were naturally bigger than him. Broner will likely have the weight advantage on July 29 when he gets inside the ring with Garcia. The weight probably won’t help Broner, as he’s going to be dealing with a lot of punching power, speed and counter punching from Garcia.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win this fight. I’m more of a boxer-puncher but if I need to press the fight and put pressure on, I’m going to be ready to do that,” said Garcia.
The keys to victory for Mikey are as follows:
– Don’t let Broner hold all night without making him pay. Broner will likely clinch repeatedly in every round to keep Mikey from hitting him with his big power shots. That’s the way Broner fights against punchers. He holds them.
– Use the jab to set up the right hands. Mikey has to get Broner looking for the jab so that he can clock him with his right hand power shots.
– Keep an eye on Broner’s left hook. He loads up with that shot every now and then, and he could surprise Mikey with it if he’s not looking for it.
Garcia might need to pressure Broner, because he likes to fight off the ropes. Broner spent a significant amount of time in his last fight against Adrian Granados with his back against the ropes last February. Granados got the better of Broner most of the time when he had him pinned against the ropes. Broner looked like he didn’t have the stamina or the willpower to go after Granados the way he needed to get the victory. The judges gave Broner a controversial 1 round split decision win.
It didn’t look ike Broner had done enough to rate the win. Boxing News 24 scored the Broner-Granados fight 7 rounds to 3 in Granados’ favor. The fight took place in Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Garcia shouldn’t have to worry about controversial scoring by the judges because the fight is taking place in New York. This should be a pretty evenly split boxing crowd on July 29.
Mikey tends to knockout his opponents most of the time anyway, so the chances of the fight going to the scorecards for this fight are fairly low in my view. Mikey has an excellent chance of knocking Broner out if he attacks him the same way he did in his last two fights against Dejan Zlaticanin and Elio Rojas. Those were both excellent fighters with talent, power and comparable speed to Broner.
Mikey never gave them a chance, as he knocked both of them down. Mikey knocked Zlaticanin completely out in the 3rd round in their fight on January 28 this year. Last year in July, Mikey knocked out Rojas in the 5th round. He dropped Rojas twice in rounds 3 and 5.
”Adrien is going to come to beat me and I’m coming 100 percent to beat him,” said Mikey in analyzing how his fight with Broner will play out next month.”The fans will be the winner on fight night, but my hand will be raised.”
Broner is going to be looking to throw his fast combinations to try and hammer out a win. I think Broner realizes that it’s not going to work in his favor if he fights the same way that he did in his fights with Granados, Shawn Porter an Emmanuel Taylor. Broner spent too much time on the ropes and he also held frequently.
With Mikey coming off of a big victory over WBC World lightweight champion Dejan Zlaticanin last January, Broner is catching Mikey at the wrong time in his career. Mikey is fighting at seemingly a higher level than he did before his two and a half year layoff from boxing. Mikey seems to be punching with even more power now than he did when he was fighting at featherweight and super featherweight.
That’s not good news for Broner, as he’s going to need to take a lot of heavy shots for him to have a chance of winning. Broner isn’t a real big puncher at 140, and he doesn’t have much to keep Mikey off of him. Broner is more of a volume, and he doesn’t do well against guys that are hitting him back hard with big power shots. That’s why Broner lost to Maidana and Porter. He couldn’t take their big power shots, and he was forced to hold to keep from getting knocked out.
What we don’t know is how well Broner will make the 140 lb. weight limit. Broner hasn’t made the weight for the light welterweight division for 2 years. That’s not a good sign coming into next months’ fight with Garcia. If Broner can’t make the 140lb limit without draining himself badly, then he’s going to be in trouble on July 29.
Mikey is in a much better position in moving up from 135 rather than having to battle to cut weight like Broner has been doing and will continue to do up until the weigh-in.
“The weight makes sense to me for this type of fight. 135-pounds is probably my best division, but I don’t think this will be much different. I’ll make weight a little more comfortably and still keep my speed and power,” said Garcia.
Broner could lose this fight just trying to make the 140 lb. weight limit. I don’t think that’s Broner’s weight class anymore. When you fail to make the 140 pound weight limit in two consecutive fights, then that’s a sign that you don’t belong in that division. Broner has only made the 140lb weight limit 1 out of his last 5 fights. That’s not good.
Keys to victory for Broner:
– Stay off the ropes
– Keep your guard high at all times. Don’t let Mikey get clear head shots.
– Don’t load up. It’s better to throw quick arm shots in order to keep Mikey from countering you.
– Don’t be afraid to hold if you need to
– Throw body shots. Mikey hasn’t been hit too much to the body in his career. This could be an area that would help Broner.