After several weeks of rumors, former champion Adrien Broner and current WBC lightweight titlist Mikey Garcia have agreed to a junior welterweight superfight at on July 29.
Broner last competed at welterweight in February, defeating Adrian Granados by split decision. His last fight at 140 pounds was a 12th round TKO win over Khabib Allakhverdiev in October 2015. Over the last five years, he’s won titles in four different weight classes.
Garcia is coming off his world title-winning effort over Dejan Zlaticanin, who was stopped in three rounds on January 28. Junior welterweight will be a new division for Garica as he’s never weighed in over 138 pounds.
Showtime will carry the fight and made the official announcement this afternoon. A venue has not been determined.
Now this is an intriguing fight. On paper, I favor the more disciplined fighter in Garcia. With the fight in less than two months out, making 140 will be a struggle for Broner. Nonetheless, The Problem will be the bigger man and has a chance if Garcia has trouble with the power differential.
If Barclays gets this fight, I might have to make the trip.
Adrien Broner and Adrian Granados are primed and ready for their welterweight showdown Saturday night on Showtime. Both fighters looked healthy coming slightly below the limit at 146.5.
On the undercard, WBA welterweight title-holder David Avanesyan was at the 147 limit. Challenger Lamont Peterson tipped the scales at 146.5.
Opening the card is a light-heavyweight crossroads bout between undefeated Marcus Browne (174.5) and Thomas Williams (174.5).
The card airs Saturday on Showtime and live on Twitter at 9 p.m. ET.
And mama used to say
Take your time, young man
Mama used to say
Don’t you rush to get old – Junior, “Mama Used to Say”
You hear the above a lot when you’re young. Enjoy life. Don’t rush too fast into complicated situations. But as the years past and the age mounts, that luxury does a 180. You better start rushing before your window for success closes. Such is the case with 29-year-old Mikey Garcia, who is perhaps facing his most dangerous opponent in undefeated slugger and WBC lightweight titlist Dejan Zlaticanin. Just one fight removed from a 2.5-year sabbatical due to promoter issues, Garcia doesn’t have time to play political games and pick up easy titles. His window to achieve greatness is now.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: Before we get into your big fight on Saturday, I wanted to go back to your first comeback bout last July. How would you evaluate that performance now that you have some time to look back on it?
Garcia: I think it was a very good performance for my return. There was a lot of concern regarding the layoff with 2.5 years off and fighting in a different weight class. I strongly believed none of that would be a factor. Everyone saw I was as good as I was before. My opponent Elio Rojas was tricky — he tried to use his speed and footwork to give me angles and make it difficult for me. But once I set the pace, distance and timing, I took over the fight. I put him down a few times and stopped him so overall I feel good about it.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: Was there any nervousness? Even Muhammad Ali mentioned when he came off his layoff he was nervous and felt his stamina suffered a bit from it.
Garcia: Not really. He was just another fight. Even though I was gone for 2.5 years, it felt like nine months to me. I never left, I was always working in the gym, training and sparring throughout the layoff.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: The reaction to you taking on Dejan Zlaticanin has been interesting. On one hand, fans last year complained that we didn’t get a lot of quality, 50/50 fights due to political and business issues. But some of those same fans have said you’re taking this fight too soon against an undefeated, aggressive fighter…
Garcia: Y’know what, we can’t please everybody. I’m here to do what I believe is right for my career. I want to pick up right where I left off before my layoff. I was forced to vacate the title at 130 pounds because of the layoff. I would’ve been moving up to 135 shortly after, so that’s why we’re fighting for the WBC title. We’re not trying to cherry-pick opponents to get a vacate title by finding the “right opportunity” with the “right guy.” We’re after the strong, heavy hitters like Dejan Zlaticanin.
Maybe it’s too soon, maybe I should wait? That’s exactly what I’m trying to disprove. I’ve been here and I’m ready to take over.
We’re not trying to cherry-pick opponents to get a vacate title by finding the “right opportunity” with the “right guy.” We’re after the strong, heavy hitters like Dejan Zlaticanin.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: Is Zlaticanin’s style completely new or do you have some experience with powerful, pressure southpaws like him?
Garcia: I’ve fought southpaws but this will be the one southpaw I’m facing that has a relentless pressure style. He seems to never take a step back. He’s very dangerous because he has power in both hands, especially that left. But that’s why I have the right sparring partners and my dad and brother are preparing me well.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: Zlaticanin comes off low-key but I noticed he’s really good at back-handed compliments. He said you’re better than Terry Flanagan, a guy I know you’re targeting, but Zlaticanin also said he felt you’re easy to hit. Did you get any impressions from the press conferences that he might be underestimating you?
Garcia: I’m not sure. I don’t keep up with anything he has to say and only met him at the press conference. But I’d prefer it if he’s that confident and comes to fight. That’s only going to help and push me to show my greatness. I don’t want him coming in unmotivated and going down by taking a knee. No, I want him to push me to the best of my abilities.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: You have a very good right hand that should be primary weapon in this fight. Where do you feel your right has been most effective: outside, mid-range or up–close?
Garcia: Y’know what, I actually like to wait and figure out my opponent before deciding the range. I’ve never seen a full fight of Zlaticanin’s; maybe a round or two. I leave my dad and my brother to come up with the game plan and study my opponent.
From what I’ve seen, he’s very good at applying pressure and fighting on the inside. He’s very powerful but I’m not sure how well he can switch up his style to box and move off the backfoot. But, he is a world champion so I have to assume he has other tricks he can pull out.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: With the winner of the rematch between Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares being a target, who do you see coming out on top?
Garcia: I think Linares has more of the advantage since he’s been here before. He’s a world champion in three divisions and has a win over Crolla. I’m leaning towards him just due to the experience and his heart.
BeatsBoxingMayhem: Any closing thoughts?
Garcia: I promised everyone I’d be back. You’ll remember me from what I accomplish going forward over what I did before the layoff.
Garcia vs. Zlaticanin airs live on Showtime Saturday, January 28 at 9 p.m. ET
LAS VEGAS — WBA featherweight champion Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz had no issues making weight this afternoon for their much-anticipated rematch Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
Both fighters weighed in below the featherweight limit at 125.
PREDICTION: At the lower weights, Santa Cruz was able to wear guys down and eventually overwhelm them with his size, punch output and pressure. But at 126, the size advantage isn’t as pronounced, allowing a skilled pugilist like Frampton to keep Santa Cruz at bay with sharp counters. Santa Cruz doesn’t have the technique to outbox Frampton nor can he bulldoze him without getting rocked (like early in the first bout).
In other words, there isn’t much room for improvement I can see from Santa Cruz. Unless Frampton has regressed (not likely), I expect him to get another clear decision.
GARCIA: 134.5
ZLATICANIN: 134.5
PREDICTION: A lot of people are worried for Garcia and with good reason. Zlaticanin is a southpaw pressure fighter that excels in punishing inside work. His right hand has serious pop but it’s usually the looping left hook that puts guys down. In an interview I’ll be posting tomorrow, Garcia explained he’s worked extensively on his right-hand counters. Short, compact punches (particularly the uppercut), will do the most damage. However, it remains to be seen how effective Garcia’s power will be against a full-fledged lightweight. After getting rocked and put in some trouble early on, I see Garcia adjusting to Zlaticanin’s rhythm and outboxing him to a tough unanimous decision.
BENAVIDEZ: 166
MAMADJANOV: 167
Opening the card is the undefeated David Benavidez taking on Sherali Mamadjanov in a super middleweight bout.
The fight that was supposed to determine the best super middleweight in the world has only fueled more doubt as WBC titlist Badou Jack and IBF beltholder James DeGale battled to an entertaining majority draw at the Barclays Center.
The fight was a tough one to score with DeGale getting a flash knockdown in the first and using his faster hands and nimble footwork to outwork Jack in three of the first four rounds. But then the tide shifted. As DeGale slowed down, Jack landed more telling blows, particularly body shots that visibly hurt DeGale in the sixth. On my card, the middle rounds were dominated by Jack’s more effective shots as he took rounds 5-8. In contrast, most of DeGale’s offense consisted of shoe-shine punches that couldn’t penetrate Jack’s guard.
Bruised and bloodied, DeGale dug deep in the championship rounds. His stronger work rate earned him rounds 9-11 on my card despite constantly losing his mouthpiece. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. threatened several times to dock a point, but DeGale’s tendency to fight on kept the ref at bay since no rest advantage was attempted.
But there was a severe penalty for DeGale’s bravery (or stupidity depending on your view).
No mouthguard meant unprotected shots to the mouth and DeGale is a few teeth lesser for his troubles.
The dramatic 12th round was punctuated by Jack flooring DeGale with a short right uppercut. To the IBF champ’s credit, he weathered a minute-plus of Jack’s follow-up assaults to see the final bell.
One judge, Glenn Feldman, felt DeGale had built enough of an early lead and gave him the fight 114-112. He was overruled by Julie Lederman and Steve Weisfeld, who both had it 113-113 (also my score).
REMATCH ISSUES: This fight seems like a no-brainer for a rematch. Unfortunately, Jack was quick to disclose he can no longer make super middleweight and the fight would have to take place at 175. DeGale scoffed at the notion and countered that the return bout should take place in London.
Now Floyd Mayweather’s behavior this week makes sense. He told media that Virgil Hunter was a bad coach and that Andre Ward would be a good opponent for Jack. Mayweather obviously knew Jack can’t stay at 168 and wanted his fighter to be the main option if Kovalev-Ward falls through.
Who do you think won the fight? Do you want to see a rematch? Sound off in the comments.
Last year, Floyd Mayweather named Gervonta Davis as the future of boxing. Tonight, fans got to see why as the 22-year-old picked apart previously undefeated Jose Pedraza to score a seventh-round stoppage.
Davis started fast in sweeping the first three rounds behind fast counters and vicious hooks to the body. The success was due to Pedraza trying to fight inside, and the IBF titlist adjusted by using his superior reach at mid-range to out-jab and outwork the challenger in rounds four and five.
Davis regained control in the sixth with heavy power shots. He finished the fading Pedraza in the seventh with a monstrous southpaw right hook.
Coming in, many critics claimed Davis was stepping up too soon and not focused on fighting. In this writer’s humble opinion, we’ve gotten too adjusted to fighters having 30 bouts before taking a risk. At 17-0, this fight had perfect timing and Davis proved he’s special with an excellent performance. Now the IBF title-holder at super featherweight, Gervonta Davis is another formidable name in a strong division.
The return to Twin Peaks now has an official date. Showtime announced earlier today that David Lynch’s hit 90s supernatural mystery drama will return for a limited series event on May 21.
The series will consist of 18 episodes and take place in present day, marking 25 years since the series ended. Some of the original cast, including Kyle MacLachlan as FBI agent Dale Cooper, will return with the passage of time being a major plot point. Other show favorites, such as Catherine E. Coulson (“Log Lady”) and Sherilyn Fenn (“Audrey Horne”), have been confirmed.
The May 21 premiere will be two hours with the next two episodes then available On Demand, giving long-time fans four hours worth of programming on one night.
Despite the exciting news, fans will have to continue their patience in waiting for the official trailer.
