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(The following are Dan Rafael's remarks on the Broner-DeMarco fight, taken from ESPN.com.)
If you could buy stock in a fighter who might someday become a pay-per-view star, Broner's would have to be at the top of the list. He is as close to Floyd Mayweather Jr. as there is in terms of talent and charisma, and their fighting style and personas are scarily similar -- although Broner appears to be a better puncher. Broner potentially is on his way to that Mayweather level after this very big win, which netted the 23-year-old from Cincinnati a world title in his second weight class.
The path he's following also is similar to Mayweather's. Mayweather won his first title at 130 pounds and then moved up and won a 135-pound title against Jose Luis Castillo, who was considered the No. 1 fighter in the weight class at the time. In Broner's case, he won a junior lightweight title last November and made one defense before being stripped for failing to make weight for a defense against Vicente Escobedo in July. His campaign at 130 wasn't nearly as distinguished as that of Mayweather (who fought Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy and Diego Corrales there), as Broner didn't face any top opponents. But in his first fight at 135, Broner won a title against DeMarco, the No. 1 fighter in the division, and he did it in overwhelmingly dominant fashion (whereas Mayweather had a huge struggle with Castillo in a fight that many thought he lost).
Broner put on an absolute clinic in Saturday's main event. He stood in the pocket and took it to DeMarco, 26, of Mexico, from the outset. DeMarco seemed to have no game plan whatsoever for how to deal with Broner's offense or defense. Instead of trying to move even a little bit, DeMarco, who was making his third title defense, stood right in front of Broner and even gave up his height advantage by ducking into him and opening himself up to abuse from Broner's right uppercut. DeMarco's only prayer was to catch Broner with something hard. But Broner's defense is tight, and although all three judges gave DeMarco the first round, he was never really in the fight.
Broner -- self-nicknamed "The Problem" -- had already marked up DeMarco's face in the first round and was hitting him with everything in the second. His dominance grew as the fight went on. The fifth round was a landslide that could have been scored 10-8 even though there was no knockdown. Broner battered DeMarco badly in that round. You could feel the end coming as he savaged DeMarco with clean shots. Finally, in the eighth round, DeMarco, as game as anyone, could take no more as Broner ripped him with an insanely fast six-punch combination -- right to the body, left to the chin, right to the body, left to the chin, right to the body and a finishing left uppercut that sent DeMarco staggering backward and down to a knee. His corner had seen enough and threw in the towel before referee Benjy Esteves bothered to finish the count, stopping the fight at 1 minute, 49 seconds.
Broner finished DeMarco in impressive fashion, landing 38 of 50 punches, according to CompuBox statistics, in the eighth round. Overall, Broner landed 241 of 451 punches (53 percent) while DeMarco landed just 93 of 351 blows (26 percent). Broner's potential is unlimited if he can stay focused and avoid letting the inevitable avalanche of money and hangers-on deter him. It's going to be a fun ride watching the heights Broner may someday reach.
If you could buy stock in a fighter who might someday become a pay-per-view star, Broner's would have to be at the top of the list. He is as close to Floyd Mayweather Jr. as there is in terms of talent and charisma, and their fighting style and personas are scarily similar -- although Broner appears to be a better puncher. Broner potentially is on his way to that Mayweather level after this very big win, which netted the 23-year-old from Cincinnati a world title in his second weight class.
The path he's following also is similar to Mayweather's. Mayweather won his first title at 130 pounds and then moved up and won a 135-pound title against Jose Luis Castillo, who was considered the No. 1 fighter in the weight class at the time. In Broner's case, he won a junior lightweight title last November and made one defense before being stripped for failing to make weight for a defense against Vicente Escobedo in July. His campaign at 130 wasn't nearly as distinguished as that of Mayweather (who fought Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy and Diego Corrales there), as Broner didn't face any top opponents. But in his first fight at 135, Broner won a title against DeMarco, the No. 1 fighter in the division, and he did it in overwhelmingly dominant fashion (whereas Mayweather had a huge struggle with Castillo in a fight that many thought he lost).
Broner put on an absolute clinic in Saturday's main event. He stood in the pocket and took it to DeMarco, 26, of Mexico, from the outset. DeMarco seemed to have no game plan whatsoever for how to deal with Broner's offense or defense. Instead of trying to move even a little bit, DeMarco, who was making his third title defense, stood right in front of Broner and even gave up his height advantage by ducking into him and opening himself up to abuse from Broner's right uppercut. DeMarco's only prayer was to catch Broner with something hard. But Broner's defense is tight, and although all three judges gave DeMarco the first round, he was never really in the fight.
Broner -- self-nicknamed "The Problem" -- had already marked up DeMarco's face in the first round and was hitting him with everything in the second. His dominance grew as the fight went on. The fifth round was a landslide that could have been scored 10-8 even though there was no knockdown. Broner battered DeMarco badly in that round. You could feel the end coming as he savaged DeMarco with clean shots. Finally, in the eighth round, DeMarco, as game as anyone, could take no more as Broner ripped him with an insanely fast six-punch combination -- right to the body, left to the chin, right to the body, left to the chin, right to the body and a finishing left uppercut that sent DeMarco staggering backward and down to a knee. His corner had seen enough and threw in the towel before referee Benjy Esteves bothered to finish the count, stopping the fight at 1 minute, 49 seconds.
Broner finished DeMarco in impressive fashion, landing 38 of 50 punches, according to CompuBox statistics, in the eighth round. Overall, Broner landed 241 of 451 punches (53 percent) while DeMarco landed just 93 of 351 blows (26 percent). Broner's potential is unlimited if he can stay focused and avoid letting the inevitable avalanche of money and hangers-on deter him. It's going to be a fun ride watching the heights Broner may someday reach.
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