Adrien Broner and Andre Ward - Boxing's next Generation!
 By Robert Brown, Doghouse Boxing (Dec 5, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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Time
and time again the boxing obituary has been written in preparation for
the enviable death of the sport. In the late 70’s, people were asking
how is boxing going to survive after Ali retires and the rest of the
golden heavyweights of the era fade into boxing’s history books? The
void was quickly filled by iconic and charismatic figures such as Sugar
Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Mike
Tyson. As these iconic figures were coming to the end of their careers,
boxing’s premature death was once again the forecast.
The
90’s produced legends such as Oscar De la Hoya, "Sugar" Shane Mosley
(just to name a few) who will both become future hall of famers. That
decade also gave us the memorable fights between Riddick Bowe vs. Evander
Holyfield and Tyson vs. Holyfield.
In
this generation we've had the domination of two contrasting but equally
iconic figures in Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Crowds have
admired Pacquiao for his extremely aggressive action packed and
destructive style as well as his accent up the weight classes, fighting
bigger and bigger opponents. Mayweather fans have admired the fact that
he is a supremely gifted and talented fighter with blinding speed, a
superior ring. Fans appreciate his ability to make adjustments in fights
with ease and capitalise on any mistake his opponent makes. Mayweather
in the last 6 years has barely lost a handful of rounds let alone come
close to losing a fight.
Sadly
these two great boxing legends are coming to the end of their careers
and people are again looking for a fighter or fighters to carry the
sport of boxing forwards. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am telling you there
is no need to worry because the next generation has already arrived. I
am talking about Andre Ward and Adrien Broner.
It is my belief
that these two champions will be the ones to carry the sport forward and
bring it to a whole new generation of fans. If they stay focused and
keep progressing the way I believe they will, Ward and Broner will
dominate the sport well into the next decade.
The
similarities between these two and Mayweather and Pacquiao are actually
startling. Now I don’t necessarily mean in terms of ring style or
skills, I mean you’ve got Andre Ward who’s a consummate professional and
religiously dedicated family man much like Pacquiao is, whereas Ward
has got one of the strongest ring IQ’s in the sport. Ward's ability to
make adjustments during a fight is second to possibly Mayweather. When
he faced Carl Froch, he made the second best super middleweight in the
world look foolish as if he was punching at shadows. Ward then took on
the best light heavyweight in the world in Chad Dawson and after making
some adjustments during the battle, Ward would go on to find and exploit
the gaps in Dawson’s defense. Dawson considered one of the best
technical boxers in the sport looked utterly inferior to Ward. Ward will
dominate 168lb’s for as long as he wants to and then go up and dominate
175lb’s cause there is no one in their prime that can compete with him
on a technical level in those weight classes.
Adrien
Broner is a young brash highly skilled fighter with the tools to take
him a long way. Much like Mayweather he divides the boxing world right
down the middle. Some boxing fans admire him for his complete confidence
both inside and outside of the ring. He’s outgoing and some might say
divisive personality, they admire his strong belief that no one within
his realm can challenge him. People who dislike Broner level the same
criticism’s against him as they have in the past against Mayweather.
They believe Broner is arrogant, self-absorbed and hasn't fought a high
enough level of competition. My response to those claims is this Broner
just destroyed a 135lb champion in Antonio DeMarco. DeMarco is a
straight ahead brawler that does not have the experience and versatility
to deal with someone like Broner, but you tell me who does? In my
opinion Broner will destroy anyone within the 135 – 140 range including
Brandon Rios and Lucas Matthysse. Yes they are tough fighters with
concussive punching power, but they are one dimensional pressure
fighters who do not have the versatility to deal with everything in
Broner's kit bag. The only fighter I can see that could deal with Broner
is a puncher with an intellect to match Broner such as a Juan Manuel Marquez at 140. I don’t see any fighter to fit that bill.
Whether
you like it or not, Broner is going to be around for a long time and
just like Mayweather he will make money because people will pay hoping
to see him lose. Just like Mayweather/Pacquiao you’ve got the good
versus evil in Ward and Broner, although these two fighters will most
likely never face each other, fans with soon create their own rivalry by
discussing who’s better and more exciting between the two.
Boxing
is not dead and if an American heavyweight can rise from the ashes
boxing could be heading for its greatest era yet with Broner and Ward
carrying the torch for the next generation.
E-mail questions and comments to Robert at: robbybrown82@hotmail.com
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