By Jake Donovan

Fans were excited from the moment a matchup was floated between current Top 10 welterweights Adrien Broner and Marcos Maidana. The fight first became a possibility after both won meaningful fights in June – Maidana stopping Josesito Lopez in six rounds, while Broner edged Paul Malignaggi in his divisional debut later in the month – but gained steam after they nearly went at it for free.

Both fighters had already went back and forth on Twitter prior to meeting in Vegas during the fight week festivities surrounding the September PPV show between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. The matchup was still in talking stages, but a ringside altercation between the two while in attendance for a Fox Sports 1-televised show during Fight Week prompted Golden Boy Promotions to finalize terms and get the fight on the books.

Some three months later, the welterweights will finally have their chance to settle their differences when they meet on December 14 in San Antonio. While the trash talk has died down considerably, the two sides still vividly recall the deciding factor in getting their handlers to make this fight happen.

“I was sitting with a nice lady friend. He came up to me… he just wanted some attention,” recalls Broner (27-0, 22KO), who fights for the second time at welterweight. “It is what it is, though. That’s boxing. Did it surprise me? No, but it is what it is. I’m okay with that.”

Maidana (34-3, 31KO) and his camp recall being angered by Broner’s disparaging marks prior to that point. By his admission at the time, the Argentine knockout artist had every intention of confronting him the moment they met during fight week.

Calmer heads have since prevailed, as it’s been business as usual during training camp. The same level of rationale was not in tow back in September.

“I’ve always wanted to beat him and knock him out. But after the incident in Las Vegas, I tell you the truth it woke me up,” Maidana admits. “I’m not used to getting into arguments or coming to blows with fighters. But he is provocative. It motivated me in training.”

The welterweight bout will air live on Showtime, headlining a loaded quadrupleheader in the final major stateside televised boxing card of 2013.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox