By Jake Donovan

Adrien Broner continued to impress his legion of supporters, while converting many doubters as well after his eighth round thrashing of Antonio DeMarco this past weekend in Atlantic City.

The fight was Broner’s first back at lightweight after a brief stay as 130 lb. titlist before growing out of the division. The unbeaten rising star looked spectacular at the weight, drawing rave reviews from nearly everyone who tuned in to the HBO telecast.

There however remains at least one holdout who isn’t yet sold on the two-division titlist. Lightweight contender Alejandro Sanabria (33-1, 25KO) was once upon a time the mandatory contender to the very belt acquired by Broner over the weekend. He hopes that a win this weekend will bring him one step closer to making that fight a reality.

“Now everyone is going to be scared,” believes Sanabria, who faces Nery Saguilan (24-2-1, 10KO) this weekend in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. “I want a chance to prove that I have what it takes to beat him.”

Sanabria enters this weekend show riding a nine-fight win streak. His current nine-fight win streak includes back-to-back knockout wins over Vinvin Rufino and Jhunriel Ramonal, both of which were sanctioned as “WBC Silver featherweight title” fights.

The “silver” title means little more than a placeholder for mandatory contenders. Theoretically, Sanabria should be next in line for the American star.

Realistically, this is boxing; anyone with a little bit of power can get away with acting on a whim.

Sanabria was unceremoniously stripped of his mandatory ranking by the WBC, despite having never lost or abandoning the weight class. The timing was peculiar, coming shortly after his promoter, Promociones del Pueblo, filing a lawsuit with the sanctioning body over its mishandling of drug testing in a Feb. ’12 bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Marco Antonio Rubio.

The power punching Mexican has since been placed in the lower portion of the WBC’s Top 15 in the super featherweight division, despite having not fought at that weight since a breakout win over Rocky Juarez in Feb. ’11.

None of that is of any concern to the fighter, whose job is simply to fight. His showdown with Saguilan carries no true significance, other than serving as the chief support to Fernando Montiel’s grudge match with Giovanni Ruso. Still, it won’t prevent Sanabria from making his presence felt in the ring rather than behind the mic.

“I don’t fear anyone,” Sanabria insists. “When people (talk trash) to me, it’s because they have no chance during the fight. I don’t have anything against them. It’s merely a sports rivalry and I dedicate myself to fighting in the ring. Everything that goes down before the fight is irrelevant.”

Sanabria’s fight with Saguilan – along with Montiel-Ruso – will air live on Televisa.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox