Broner Plays the Heavy In Front of Hometown Crowd

By Kieran Mulvaney

Adrien Broner lost a title and then won a fight. He also won the opportunity to keep moving on to bigger and better things; though the way he did so won’t sit easily with all of his fans. But at the end of the day, his record will show he became the first man to stop Vicente Escobedo, and the controversy that surrounded this fight will fade away, leaving only another victory on Broner’s unblemished record.

The drama began on Friday, when Broner tipped the scale at 133.5 pounds, three and a half pounds above the contracted 130-pound-division limit. That meant immediate forfeiture of his title belt, and the situation incited fury from Escobedo’s team. That afternoon, overnight and through much of Saturday, they insisted the weight difference was too great and that they would bolt. Not until a few hours before HBO’s Boxing After Dark was scheduled to air was an agreement finally reached and the fight officially given the go-ahead by both sides.

When the bout began, the size difference was soon apparent: Broner solid and muscular, Escobedo relatively wiry. Evident too, however, was a gulf in skill and class. Escobedo, a credible contender, was simply no match for Broner’s speed or his repertoire of moves. 

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Garcia Topples Khan

By Kieran Mulvaney

Amir Khan - Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland

There was some talk, before Amir Khan stepped into the ring with Danny Garcia at the Mandalay Bay on Saturday night, that with a victory he could not only erase last December’s controversial loss to Lamont Peterson, but potentially even set himself up for a December megafight with Floyd Mayweather.

One huge counter left hook from Garcia was all it took to blow that idea to pieces.

Suddenly it is the undefeated but unheralded Garcia who is talking about the big money fights, and Khan who is looking at a career that has suddenly reached a crossroad.

Khan started brightly, landing long right hands behind a swift and stiff jab. The difference in hand speed was apparent, Khan’s immense advantages making Garcia’s punches look ponderous and painfully slow. But Garcia, despite looking slightly overwhelmed in the early going, kept his composure. Although a Khan left hook opened a cut by his right eye, his defense was tight, and as the minutes ticked by, he almost visibly grew in confidence.

In the third, Garcia gave up trying to exchange combinations with his speedier opponent and began targeting his body with thudding shots. But it was a shift back to Khan’s sometimes suspect chin that paid dramatic dividends. 

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Filipino Flashes of Brilliance

By Eric Raskin

Jeffrey Mathebula, Nonito Donaire - Photo Credit: Will Hart

Ring announcer Lupe Contreras noted before the opening bell that the Nonito Donaire-Jeffrey Mathebula fight was dedicated to the memory of LeRoy Neiman, a man who, depending upon whom you ask, was either an iconic talent or the most overrated artist of his time. It was quite appropriate then that the boxing match dedicated to fight fanatic Neiman would feature pound-for-pound lister Donaire, with all of his polarizing qualities on display.

The fans at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California were treated to “Filipino Flashes” of brilliance from the 122-pound titlist, but they also watched the prodigious puncher somehow go the 12-round distance for the third time in row. In the end, Donaire won a clear-cut unanimous decision over Mathebula to unify a couple of alphabet belts, but it wasn’t the statement fight we’ve been waiting for since he shockingly flattened Fernando Montiel in two rounds 17 months ago.

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The Real Deal

By Chuck Johnson

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Andy Lee - Photo Credit: Will Hart

Aside from the legendary lineage and a world title belt, “Irish” Andy Lee was out to show Saturday night that rising middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had nothing over him.

Reality set in for the southpaw challenger when referee Laurence Cole stepped in to stop Chavez’s barrage of body and head shots at 2:21 of the seventh round, bringing an explosive end to the HBO-televised bout from the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Tex., and adding substance to Chavez’s resume after dismantling the toughest opponent of his rising career.

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Pacquiao Loses to Bradley in Controversial Decision

By Kieran Mulvaney

Timothy Bradley - Photo Credit: Will Hart

Manny Pacquiao won Saturday night’s welterweight championship bout in virtually all eyes – except those of the judges. Even Timothy Bradley admitted he’d have to review the tape to decide whether he’d won, and then he left the MGM Grand in a wheelchair. It was that kind of a night.

There was a feeling of the unusual about the evening almost from the beginning, the sense that anything could happen and probably would.

Guillermo Rigondeaux dispatched Teon Kennedy easily and emphatically enough, dropping him five times en route to a fifth-round stoppage to remain undefeated and retain his 122-pound title. So far, everything was unfolding to the script.

It turned out that the script was for an episode of the Twilight Zone.

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