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Last Saturday fight "Danger Zone" featured Showtime's young stars Broner, Thurman, and Santa Cruz. Each bout was a fascinating spectacle to witness with the main event not going in the way of the status quo.
Each young champion that night was tested, and may I say some of their shortcomings have been exposed. Leo Santa Cruz was being outboxed by someone with technical slick skill in Cesar Seda. Thurman was chin checked early by a Soto-Karass, and was wobbly legged. Broner we all saw the KDs and constant penetration of his defense when had to think. Each of these young stars have been shown they are still very new to the elite level.
In the fight you see that Seda although without the necessary size and power to muscle and hurt Cruz was giving him a lot of trouble. He landed more accurate shots, and when Cruz gave him some hot lead, he came right back with vicious shots of his own throwing more combinations. Cruz I will say kept his composure like a true champion and got the victory due to his shots although not as many being the ones that were much harder. I think though that his team should be worried about a future opponent like Seda especially if he comes in the same size as Cruz instead of someone coming up in weight. Only time will tell how Leo will do, hopefully he does well to improve as he is very marketable and have natural strong mental fortitude.
Thurman for the first time I ever seen watching him on the big stage was clocked hard and was sent railing back on wobbly legs. What worried me though was not that he was wobbled but how he respond in like to move north-south and try to bomb back while still recovering. He also continued to throw the uppercut from out of range where it leaves him expose for big counters that can come from odd angles. His boxing is very solid and his foot movement is very good for someone with monstrous power, I however want him to become more defensively sound with techniques that can neutralize his opponents how offense instead of using his footwork all the time. I can imagine him with a developed sense of parrying shots, countering with devastating shots that will end with one timed perfect shot. I also hope his corner investigate his last two fights and really improve him getting hit flush with anything. Keith movement negates most of the impact from punches but a solid guard will do him much good as well.
Adrien Broner, we all saw the fight, his obviously didn't do his homework while Team Maidana did. Garcia even mentioned in the All Access that Broner starts off slow and they are going to go HAM on him. That's exactly what won Maidana the fight, Broner shows that he doesn't have the mental fortitude to deal with constant pressure. Instead of knowing what to do next, he is reactive which is why he gets hit with the same punch over and over, even when gets in control, he doesn't think or know how to maintain control. His opponent just needs to keep him thinking which confuses him and makes him uncomfortable. That is going to be a major problem going forward, he might be listening to Mayweather "I don't watch tapes" but everyone does their homework on who they're fighting. He needs to get out the mentality that he is the best and understand to be the best he got to put every cell into his craft. He has the physical gifts, he just need the mental toughness and dedication. His team needs to set him up with a rematch, maybe on a Mayweather undercard or Canelo's, and in the meantime train. Get rid of all the people that showed they weren't riding with him, and focus on himself to get back where he was. He isn't going to have the hardest time to gain his confidence but he is still very marketable, his name is already known.
What do you guys think each of these young champions can improve on?
Also I'm going to throw in Danny Garcia, Deontay Wilder, Gab Rosado, and Peter Quillin, who all are under the Showtime banner. Give your grades on these guys and what they can/should improve on to be a more complete fighter.
Out of all the young guys I say Danny Garcia is the most skilled, followed by Keith Thurman.
Each young champion that night was tested, and may I say some of their shortcomings have been exposed. Leo Santa Cruz was being outboxed by someone with technical slick skill in Cesar Seda. Thurman was chin checked early by a Soto-Karass, and was wobbly legged. Broner we all saw the KDs and constant penetration of his defense when had to think. Each of these young stars have been shown they are still very new to the elite level.
In the fight you see that Seda although without the necessary size and power to muscle and hurt Cruz was giving him a lot of trouble. He landed more accurate shots, and when Cruz gave him some hot lead, he came right back with vicious shots of his own throwing more combinations. Cruz I will say kept his composure like a true champion and got the victory due to his shots although not as many being the ones that were much harder. I think though that his team should be worried about a future opponent like Seda especially if he comes in the same size as Cruz instead of someone coming up in weight. Only time will tell how Leo will do, hopefully he does well to improve as he is very marketable and have natural strong mental fortitude.
Thurman for the first time I ever seen watching him on the big stage was clocked hard and was sent railing back on wobbly legs. What worried me though was not that he was wobbled but how he respond in like to move north-south and try to bomb back while still recovering. He also continued to throw the uppercut from out of range where it leaves him expose for big counters that can come from odd angles. His boxing is very solid and his foot movement is very good for someone with monstrous power, I however want him to become more defensively sound with techniques that can neutralize his opponents how offense instead of using his footwork all the time. I can imagine him with a developed sense of parrying shots, countering with devastating shots that will end with one timed perfect shot. I also hope his corner investigate his last two fights and really improve him getting hit flush with anything. Keith movement negates most of the impact from punches but a solid guard will do him much good as well.
Adrien Broner, we all saw the fight, his obviously didn't do his homework while Team Maidana did. Garcia even mentioned in the All Access that Broner starts off slow and they are going to go HAM on him. That's exactly what won Maidana the fight, Broner shows that he doesn't have the mental fortitude to deal with constant pressure. Instead of knowing what to do next, he is reactive which is why he gets hit with the same punch over and over, even when gets in control, he doesn't think or know how to maintain control. His opponent just needs to keep him thinking which confuses him and makes him uncomfortable. That is going to be a major problem going forward, he might be listening to Mayweather "I don't watch tapes" but everyone does their homework on who they're fighting. He needs to get out the mentality that he is the best and understand to be the best he got to put every cell into his craft. He has the physical gifts, he just need the mental toughness and dedication. His team needs to set him up with a rematch, maybe on a Mayweather undercard or Canelo's, and in the meantime train. Get rid of all the people that showed they weren't riding with him, and focus on himself to get back where he was. He isn't going to have the hardest time to gain his confidence but he is still very marketable, his name is already known.
What do you guys think each of these young champions can improve on?
Also I'm going to throw in Danny Garcia, Deontay Wilder, Gab Rosado, and Peter Quillin, who all are under the Showtime banner. Give your grades on these guys and what they can/should improve on to be a more complete fighter.
Out of all the young guys I say Danny Garcia is the most skilled, followed by Keith Thurman.
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