Text by Edward Chaykovsky, Interview by Chris Robinson
Former four division world champion Roy Jones Jr. believes Adrien Broner (27-1, 22KOs) made a big mistake in rushing to fight such a big puncher like Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31KOs) last December in San Antonio.
Broner, a three division former champion, moved up from 135 to 147-pounds last June against Paulie Malignaggi, who is one of the lighter punchers at the weight. Broner struggled to win a twelve round split decision. Last month, he faced Maidana and saw himself dropped hard in the second and the eight, and stunned several times before losing a twelve round unanimous decision.
Broner exercised his option for an immediate rematch with Maidana, and they are likely fighting on April 19 or April 26.
"I thought the fight was too early for him, as a welterweight. His first fight as a welterweight was against Paul Malignaggi, who put up a much better fight than people expected against Adrien. No disrespect to Paul, but he's one of the lightest punchers in the welterweight division," Jones said.
"You should take a few battles to ease your way up to get used to the stiffer size. I know he's been in the gym with a lot of strong punchers and all, but in the gym it's a little bit different. I would rather him go from a light punching guy to a mediocre punching guy, and then to a Maidana. Not go from the lightest punching guy to arguably the hardest punching guy in the division, because that's a big gap."
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