Quick Thoughts on Last Night's Fights in Ft. Worth

Broner needs to fix that extra wide base, he has fast hand and good reflexes but that wide base negates how much he can move. He has some skills though and is only 19 with 300 or so ameture fights so he could turn into something. I likes the dude that lost to Andrade in the finals to make the Oylmpic squad Headley I think was his last name. He was in soft but the short right had that he landed was a very nice punch, if he can keep them short and sweet like that I think he has a future. To me McEwen just does not look like a prizefight, he has skills no doubt and a fighters mentality (whenever Vera got him good he answered right back), some people may like that but for a guy with very little power that could lead to bad things against tougher fighters then Vera. He also got pushed around a little to much for my liking and could not seem to keep proper distance when he has the advantages at range, against some like Vera this did not cost him but against a better fighter I have my doubts about his ability to handle this.

Nice thread. I'm from Dallas and know what you mean. It's been humid as hell and I'm so sick of it already. Anyways, I couldn't make it out to Ft Worth for the fight but was very interested and entertained by last nights fights. Even on TV. I'm glad ESPN/Golden Boy let us represent. There are allot of good Texas fighters who don't get recognized due to poor management and it's good to have a little attention. Great post. Keep up the good work. Thanks! I listened to Tessitore's podcast this week and he talked about how under served the DFW area is. Last night it was packed and pretty enthusiastic though. Hopefully we will see some promoters bring more events this way.

First of let me say that last night was incredibly humid and fairly hot night for outdoor fights. We've had almost constant rain in the metroplex for the last couple weeks. And I think it really showed in some of the fights... Most notably the first televised one... Broner vs. Quintero Broner looked pretty sharp in the opening rounds but quickly tired. He seemed unable to figure out Quintero's head movement and despite some impressive combinations at times by Broner, Quintero seemed to land the more significant shots. After the fight Broner was discouraged, shaking his head at his performance (which he also did at the end of rounds occasionally). He did NOT look like the prospect he's supposed to be, though some of this may be attributed to the heat/humidty and fighting a tougher than expected opponent. I thought Broner lost the fight and I can only think some judges must have known Quintero was there as "the opponent". At any rate, Broner remains a prospect and one can only hope this was a growing experience for him. Craig McEwan vs. Brain Vera I don't know how this fight came across on TV, but in person it was a highly enjoyable scrap. Vera showed why he was able to beat Andy Lee. He has a strong overhand right, will push the action and can take a decent punch (what happened against Codrington is a mystery to me). Vera actually cut McEwan under his left eye early in the fight. I didn't see this mentioned anywhere in print, maybe because it did not amount to anything over the course of the fight. What most impressed me about McEwan was not hand speed or power, but terrific versatility and foot movement. And even more so, his conditioning. He was the only fighter all night that went past four rounds and still kept a spring in his step despite the humidity. He used Vera's aggressiveness to his advantage to lure him in, punch in combinations and circle. At 27, he's a good deal older than most prospects and his defense needs work, but under Roach's tutelage I believe he could be a legit contender someday in the Middleweight division. Carlos Ivan Velasquez vs. Andres Ledesma This fight occurred after the TV coverage ended. I mention it because Velasquez is another big prospect. He defeated Yuriorkis Gamboa en route to winning gold in the "2006 Central American and Caribbean Games". Velasquez had the quickest hands of the night; a step up from even Broner's first round speed. Due to injury this was his first fight back since the Casamayor-Marquez undercard. He made quick work of Ledesma last night, knocking him down twice in the first and scoring the TKO at 2:59 of the round. I expect he will fight again very shortly as he says he wants to try to get a title shot within a year. Broner definitely got a gift last night. Vera is exciting but sloppy as all hell. I wasn't impressed with McEwan much neither, though. He'll probably end up getting a nice payday against a top name, though.