Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner square off Saturday night in what could be a career saving fight for Broner.
The odds are certainly stacked against him. According to CBS Sports, Broner is a +230 underdog. That number will very depending on the casino but Broner is the underdog by a wide margin.
As the press tour has wrapped up, one thing is apparent, Broner needs to be more active than previous fights. When this was brought up by Stephen A. Smith, Broner scoffed at the notion that he isn’t busy enough.
“It ain’t about throwing a lot of punches, it’s about throwing the right punches,” said Broner.
He better be playing coy. Broner can’t win close rounds against Manny Pacquiao if he is holding back punches. He will have to show a side of himself that he isn’t shown throughout his career. Lets get this straight, Broner isn’t Floyd Mayweather Jr. The brilliance behind Mayweather Jr. wasn’t only his ability to move and roll punches but he would counter-punch so well, his opponents would stop punching.
Go back and look at Mayweather Jr’s fights against both Canelo Alvarez and Pacquiao and pay attention to how many time both of them had Mayweather Jr. in the pocket, yet they stood there. Broner doesn’t solicit that sort of reaction from his opponents. Expect Pacquiao to use angles to move Broner into a position where he can land punches straight up the middle.
Broner is right about one thing. Throwing punches for the sake of throwing punches will not help. If he does that and gets sloppy, Pacquiao will knock him out. He needs to be able to get to Pacquiao’s body early and often. Don’t forget, Pacquiao might be dangerous but he is 40 and there’s a chance Broner could wear him down. If Pacquiao tries to stalk, Broner can’t back himself on the ropes. There’s comes a point where he’ll have to stand his ground and land a round or fight changing punch.
This isn’t Sugar Ray Leonard-Marvin Hagler. Leonard was able to move and land pitter-patter punches and win rounds in the eyes of the judges. Broner won’t the benefit of the doubt. As much as anyone, the judges will make him be more active. Losing a close fight that is controversial in Broner’s own eyes, isn’t good enough.
If he needs a reminder, he should pop in the tape of the Mikey Garcia fight. Garcia almost threw double the amount of punches as Broner. The judges rewarded him for his activity, effectiveness and ability to control the fight. Broner left with a non-competitive loss.
If Broner doesn’t realize more is more, he’ll lose this fight. Either by the judges scorecards or on his back.
