By Keith Idec

Leonard Ellerbe expects Adrien Broner to prove plenty of people wrong Saturday night.

Ellerbe, CEO for Mayweather Promotions, respects Mikey Garcia and everything the unbeaten three-division champion has accomplished. But he can’t see this motivated Broner, who admits his back is against the wall entering their 12-round, 140-pound fight, losing to Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“I’m really, really looking forward to this fight and have been for quite some time,” Ellerbe told co-hosts Gerry Cooney and Randy Gordon during SiriusXM’s most recent episode of “At the Fights” on Monday night. “And I’m really looking forward to it because I’m of the mindset I love to see an underdog rise to the occasion. And in this particular case, I’m very confident that’s what’s gonna happen Saturday night. Adrien Broner’s a big underdog coming into Saturday night, and I expect him to prove all the naysayers wrong.”

Ellerbe will be ringside for this “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event because Mayweather Promotions is co-promoting the 10-fight card headlined by Broner and Garcia. He expects to see a better Broner (33-2, 24 KOs, 1 NC) than we’ve seen in his fights against top opponents partially because Broner has taken this fight against Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) very personally.

“Mikey Garcia’s gonna bring out the best in Adrien Broner because I know firsthand how Adrien feels about this particular fight,” Ellerbe said. “It’s business, but it’s also personal because there’s been a lot of disrespectful things that have been said throughout the promotion, where there have been certain media members, along with the Garcia camp, that said that it’s not gonna be too difficult of a fight, that he’s a better boxer than Broner, and I think some of these things Adrien has used for that bulletin-board material. And I expect him to go out Saturday night and really put the exclamation point to this fight come Saturday night.”

Cincinnati’s Broner, who’ll turn 28 on Friday, took exception to Garcia opening as a 5-1 favorite over him once their fight was announced last month.

“Mikey Garcia’s not gonna beat Adrien Broner,” Ellerbe said. “That’s not gonna happen. That’s not gonna happen. I know the kid [Garcia] very well. Actually, we wanted to sign him. We did a tremendous amount of homework. He was one of the guys we were looking at. Things didn’t work out and we wished him nothing but the best.

“He’s an outstanding fighter. Top Rank did a wonderful, masterful job with him, building his career, especially led by the helm of [matchmaker] Bruce Trampler. You know, so I know what kind of fighter he is and I know the kind of fights he’s been in. And come Saturday night, it’s a whole different look – a whole different look fighting Adrien Broner.”

The Garcia-Broner bout will headline Showtime’s doubleheader Saturday night. The telecast will open at 9 p.m. ET with a 12-round WBC middleweight elimination match between Houston’s Jermall Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) and Argentina’s Sebastian Heiland (29-4-2, 16 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.