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By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
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Welterweight titleholder Adrien Broner has aspirations to follow in the footsteps of the fighter he calls "big brother" -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- as a future pound-for-pound No. 1 and pay-per-view king.
Broner believes he will be on his way after his first 147-pound title defense, a showdown against dangerous puncher and former junior welterweight titlist Marcos Maidana that was finalized Friday and will mark his first pay-per-view headline fight.
The fight, long in discussions, will headline a loaded card, which also includes the return of former welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz from an 18-month layoff, on Dec. 14 (Showtime PPV) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com.
"This is one of the best fights you can make in boxing. It's a fight we were asked about time and again by media and fans," Schaefer said. "They kept asking me, 'Can you make that fight?' It was like when I was being asked if I could make Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez and Danny Garcia-Lucas Matthysse. It's one of those fights that everywhere I went people were asking me, 'Are you going to get it done?' Well, I got it done."
Broner (27-0, 22 KOs), 24, of Cincinnati, who has won titles at junior lightweight and lightweight, skipped over junior welterweight and won a welterweight title on June 22, going to Paulie Malignaggi's hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., and taking a decision and the belt.
Maidana is Broner's mandatory challenger, and it is also a match that shapes up as a top-notch style fight with Broner being the skillful boxer with blazing speed and Maidana being an aggressive, pure puncher.
"Props to Broner to stepping up to the plate and taking on a guy like Maidana with huge knockout power and to Maidana to take on a guy people discuss as a future pound-for-pound star," Schaefer said. "It's as hot of a fight as you could make in any division. I'm excited about the fight. It has fireworks written all over it."
Maidana (34-3, 31 KOs), 30, of Argentina, has won three fights in a row since a 2012 loss to Devon Alexander, who later won a welterweight title. Maidana has wanted to fight Broner, and the two have trash talked and got in each other's face at a boxing card in Las Vegas last month.
"Maidana is a hell of a fighter. He will come to fight but, at the end of the day, this is my breaking point into taking over boxing and I will not let this guy kill my vibe," Broner told ESPN.com. "The game is mine and I am the best. My big brother Floyd got a few more fights left (and then) I will carry the torch and sit on top alone.
"I'm not just a boxer. I'm a megastar, and now I'm about to become a pay-per-view megastar. I'm not ****y. I'm very confident in the skill I was blessed with and I want everybody to come out and support me at the MGM Grand and watch on pay-per-view on Dec. 14."
Schaefer also outlined the three other bouts on the pay-per-view:
• In the co-feature, Ortiz, 26, of Oxnard, Calif., will move up to junior middleweight to challenge titleholder Carlos Molina (22-5-2, 6 KOs), 30, of Chicago, who will be making his first defense after outpointing Ishe Smith to win the 154-pound title on the Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez undercard on Sept. 14.
Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KOs) has not fought since suffering a badly broken jaw in a ninth-round knockout loss to Josesito Lopez in June 2012. That was Ortiz's second loss in a row as he was knocked out by Mayweather in the fourth round of their high-profile bout in September 2011.
While his jaw was healing, Ortiz participated on "Dancing With the Stars," and he has recently been filming a role in "The Expendables 3."
"Victor's jaw is healed and he's good to go," Schaefer said. "He's excited about coming back and fighting for another world title in a division which is one of the hottest in the sport."
• Interim welterweight titlist Keith Thurman (21-0, 19 KOs), 24, of Clearwater, Fla., will face Jesus Soto Karass in a fight that pits aggressive brawlers.
"On paper, this is a fight of the year candidate," Schaefer said.
Thurman claimed his belt in July by stopping Diego Chaves in the 10th round of a slugfest.
Soto Karass (28-8-3, 18 KOs), 30, of Mexico, has won four of his last five bouts, including two upsets in a row, a decision against contender Selcuk Aydin and a 12th-round knockout of former welterweight titlist Andre Berto in July.
• In the opening bout, Mexican brawler Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs), 31, will square off with Puerto Rico's Jorge Melendez in a junior middleweight fight.
"Somebody's gonna get knocked out," Schaefer said. "And if Angulo loses again, it's a huge setback."
Angulo, consistently one of boxing's most crowd-pleasing fighters, is 2-2 in his last four bouts, including a sixth-round knockout to James Kirkland in a 2011 fight of the year candidate and a 10th-round knockout to Erislandy Lara when they met for a vacant interim title. Angulo quit because of a damaged orbital bone.
Melendez (27-3-1, 26 KOs), 24, of Puerto Rico, is a Miguel Cotto protégé who stopped Jamaal Davis in the second round on the Cotto-Delvin Rodriguez undercard on Oct. 5.
"It don't remember any pay-per-view that we've done with this kind of lineup where all you don't really know the winner of any of the bouts," Schaefer said.
115
23
19
Welterweight titleholder Adrien Broner has aspirations to follow in the footsteps of the fighter he calls "big brother" -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- as a future pound-for-pound No. 1 and pay-per-view king.
Broner believes he will be on his way after his first 147-pound title defense, a showdown against dangerous puncher and former junior welterweight titlist Marcos Maidana that was finalized Friday and will mark his first pay-per-view headline fight.
The fight, long in discussions, will headline a loaded card, which also includes the return of former welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz from an 18-month layoff, on Dec. 14 (Showtime PPV) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com.
"This is one of the best fights you can make in boxing. It's a fight we were asked about time and again by media and fans," Schaefer said. "They kept asking me, 'Can you make that fight?' It was like when I was being asked if I could make Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez and Danny Garcia-Lucas Matthysse. It's one of those fights that everywhere I went people were asking me, 'Are you going to get it done?' Well, I got it done."
Broner (27-0, 22 KOs), 24, of Cincinnati, who has won titles at junior lightweight and lightweight, skipped over junior welterweight and won a welterweight title on June 22, going to Paulie Malignaggi's hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., and taking a decision and the belt.
Maidana is Broner's mandatory challenger, and it is also a match that shapes up as a top-notch style fight with Broner being the skillful boxer with blazing speed and Maidana being an aggressive, pure puncher.
"Props to Broner to stepping up to the plate and taking on a guy like Maidana with huge knockout power and to Maidana to take on a guy people discuss as a future pound-for-pound star," Schaefer said. "It's as hot of a fight as you could make in any division. I'm excited about the fight. It has fireworks written all over it."
Maidana (34-3, 31 KOs), 30, of Argentina, has won three fights in a row since a 2012 loss to Devon Alexander, who later won a welterweight title. Maidana has wanted to fight Broner, and the two have trash talked and got in each other's face at a boxing card in Las Vegas last month.
"Maidana is a hell of a fighter. He will come to fight but, at the end of the day, this is my breaking point into taking over boxing and I will not let this guy kill my vibe," Broner told ESPN.com. "The game is mine and I am the best. My big brother Floyd got a few more fights left (and then) I will carry the torch and sit on top alone.
"I'm not just a boxer. I'm a megastar, and now I'm about to become a pay-per-view megastar. I'm not ****y. I'm very confident in the skill I was blessed with and I want everybody to come out and support me at the MGM Grand and watch on pay-per-view on Dec. 14."
Schaefer also outlined the three other bouts on the pay-per-view:
• In the co-feature, Ortiz, 26, of Oxnard, Calif., will move up to junior middleweight to challenge titleholder Carlos Molina (22-5-2, 6 KOs), 30, of Chicago, who will be making his first defense after outpointing Ishe Smith to win the 154-pound title on the Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez undercard on Sept. 14.
Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KOs) has not fought since suffering a badly broken jaw in a ninth-round knockout loss to Josesito Lopez in June 2012. That was Ortiz's second loss in a row as he was knocked out by Mayweather in the fourth round of their high-profile bout in September 2011.
While his jaw was healing, Ortiz participated on "Dancing With the Stars," and he has recently been filming a role in "The Expendables 3."
"Victor's jaw is healed and he's good to go," Schaefer said. "He's excited about coming back and fighting for another world title in a division which is one of the hottest in the sport."
• Interim welterweight titlist Keith Thurman (21-0, 19 KOs), 24, of Clearwater, Fla., will face Jesus Soto Karass in a fight that pits aggressive brawlers.
"On paper, this is a fight of the year candidate," Schaefer said.
Thurman claimed his belt in July by stopping Diego Chaves in the 10th round of a slugfest.
Soto Karass (28-8-3, 18 KOs), 30, of Mexico, has won four of his last five bouts, including two upsets in a row, a decision against contender Selcuk Aydin and a 12th-round knockout of former welterweight titlist Andre Berto in July.
• In the opening bout, Mexican brawler Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs), 31, will square off with Puerto Rico's Jorge Melendez in a junior middleweight fight.
"Somebody's gonna get knocked out," Schaefer said. "And if Angulo loses again, it's a huge setback."
Angulo, consistently one of boxing's most crowd-pleasing fighters, is 2-2 in his last four bouts, including a sixth-round knockout to James Kirkland in a 2011 fight of the year candidate and a 10th-round knockout to Erislandy Lara when they met for a vacant interim title. Angulo quit because of a damaged orbital bone.
Melendez (27-3-1, 26 KOs), 24, of Puerto Rico, is a Miguel Cotto protégé who stopped Jamaal Davis in the second round on the Cotto-Delvin Rodriguez undercard on Oct. 5.
"It don't remember any pay-per-view that we've done with this kind of lineup where all you don't really know the winner of any of the bouts," Schaefer said.
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