When a fighter talks themselves up, and when the American boxing media tells us someone is the next big thing...I tend to have a personal warmth when they get exposed. We had one such case this past weekend when Adrien "The Problem" Broner (27-1, 22) got exposed as a loud mouthed fraud by Argentina's Marcos "Chino" Maidana (35-3, 31) who really did blow open the myth that Broner was the next Mayweather.
Maidana set off like a man possessed and really dominated Broner in the opening round. It was the sort of start that Maidana would have dreamed of having as Broner's bravado and confidence seemed to suddenly vanish. If Maidana had dreamed of winning the round his dream got even better in round 2 when he dropped Broner after repeatedly hurting him. It was clear that this wasn't what the American press or Broner, or almost expected. Maidana was there to not just beat Broner but to beat him up.
It wasn't until round 3 that Broner did anything of note in terms of aggression and it was the aggression that just saw him taking the round. He was however threatened with a point deduction for pushing off with his elbow. Bizarrely that same warning came up several times as Broner continued to push Maidana yet no point was ever taken.
With Broner taking round 3 it wasn't beyond thinking that he was going to turn things around. That didn't happen however as Maidana used his very under-rated jab in round 4 to neutralise the speed of Broner. It was only the speed of Broner that he actually seemed to have above Maidana who had power, aggression and more importantly desire. Real desire.
The desire of Maidana was on full show in round 5 as he again hurt Broner who lazy through out. Although Broner saw out that particular storm it was clear that he had no answer to the left hook of Maidana, the jab of Maidana or the flurries of wide shots that Maidana was landing at will.
Although Maidana seemed to slow in rounds 6 and 7 he was still doing the eye catching work. Broner was landing more than he had early in the fight but wasn't landing a significant number of shots and what he was landing looked light and slappy when compared to Maidana's thudding shots.
By the end of round 7 Maidana, according to commentators, had landed 60 more punches than Broner. Broner had landed more in round 7 (22 to 20) but with many of his shots being singles with little sting on them it was still clear that Maidana had the fire in his belly. That fire saw him dropping Broner for a second time in round 8. Unfortunately for Maidana he effectively the knockdown from the books by being deducted a point for a headbutt whilst Broner was holding him. Although the headbutt was stupid Broner's reactions were stupid with him selling it as if he was a WWE "superstar". The fans, knowing what Broner was up to, soundly booed the American who had by now become public enemy #1.
Maidana had come in to the bout assuming he would need a knockout to win. In round 9 he really went for the knockout as he dominated and battered Broner across the the ring. It was as close to a 10-8 round without a knockdown with the American taking a battering and landing very, very little in return. By now it had become obvious, Broner wasn't a special fighter, Broner wasn't the next Mayweather and Broner wasn't some great in the making. Broner was merely the human punch that Maidana was abusing
As with all good punch bags Broner took the shots well and was forced to take them again in round 10 and 11 as Maidana did all he could to prevent the judges from robbing him. The crowd egged on Maidana with chants of "Chino" and by round 11 the fight looked in the bag. Maidana's confidence was through the roof and and he went for the finish again in the 11th.
Having lost the 11th Broner flirted with a point deduction again for a shot well after the bell. Lawrence Cole, who seemed to "know the score" regarding Broner's status as the next American star gave Broner yet another warning but nothing else.
In regards to competitive action round 12 was the most competitive. Broner seemed to be aware he was trailing and he went for a tired Maidana throwing the kitchen sink at him. Maidana, being a South American, showed his machismo and fight back rocking Broner several times with left hooks despite being physically knackered. Thankfully for Maidana Broner's attack never had him in any distress, preventing any sort of dodgy stoppage, instead Maidana saw out the final bell.
There was a fear after the final bell that the judges, which have stunk this year, were going to do the impossible and rob Maiana of his clear victory. Thankfully the judges didn't. They had it 115-110, 116-109, 117-109 all to the right guy and the new WBA Welterweight champion, Marcos Maidana
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