Catch-weights be damned! Much to my displeasure, Adrien Broner vs. Shawn Porter is being fought at 144 pounds, not at the welterweight limit of 147.
Who does this favor? Well, to me it’s quite obvious.
Adrien Broner (30-1, 22 KO’s) has the advantage when it comes to “weighty” matters, since he’s the naturally smaller man who will be fighting closer to his ideal weight of 140 pounds.
Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16 KO’s), on the other hand, is a legit 147-pounder, who will now have to bleed down a few more pounds for this fight.
Luckily for Porter, Broner will not be able to win this fight on weight alone. As is almost always the case in big fights, skills pay the bills.
The question is: who has more skills in this fight? That’s tough to say.
If you were to ask their one common opponent, Paulie Malignaggi, I’d bet he’d say Porter, who obliterated him in four rounds.
But it’s not just Malignaggi’s opinion that tells the story here. For what Porter lacks in speed to Broner (which isn’t as considerable as you would think), he makes up for it with a seemingly sturdier chin, a more consistent defense, and dogged, tireless aggression–something we saw Broner struggle mightily with in his upset loss to Marcos Maidana.
Don’t get it twisted though, Broner will be no pushover. This fight will be under the bright lights of prime-time television on NBC. And we all know that Broner likes the bright lights. He also knows this is a crossroads fight and he has already shown that he has the heart to endure (and survive) an aggressive boxer like Maidana.
However, I see Porter posing similar problems that Maidana did to Broner, but with much better boxing skills and defense.
As a result, I expect Shawn Porter to emerge victorious via a competitive, entertaining scrap when he meets Adrien Broner on June 20.
Good read. I think those 2 or 3 lbs (the catch-weight is 144 plus a pound) will affect Porter, the same way they affected Cotto when he faced Manny. Porter is always fighting at the limit and I personally think he will look and fight drained. If thats the case, I see AB winning by stoppage in the later rds maybe between 7-9. If Porter looks healthy and can keep his power then I see Porter by UD. IMO.
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@Rmbellamy Good analysis Ralph. You may be right. For these smaller guys, every pound counts. I hope it doesn’t debilitate him ala Chad Dawson vs. Andre Ward or De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao.