In the latest addition of ‘A Pivotal Round’, Peter Moss looks back on a round that changed the course of a championship fight. This week he focuses on round 2 in Adrien Broner vs Marcos Maidana in 2013, in a fight that caused some surprises.
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Setting the scene
At this point in history, Adrien Broner was still thought to be a promising talent in the sport and the self proclaimed heir to the Mayweather thrown.
In the process he had racked up some notable quality wins and continued pressing forward to continue his achievements. The biggest name at the time was Antonio Demarco who was the number 1 ranked lightweight in the world by most publications.
Broner put on a thoroughly dominant performance, even dropping Demarco for the first time in his career.
Around the same time, a fighter with the nickname of “Chino” was making his ascent into boxing relevance as well. His road was a little bumpier than Broner’s. After one defeat in particular, (Devon Alexander) Maidana decided that a change was needed.
Maidana enlisted the help of Robert Garcia and the results were phenomenal.
Maidana would go on a four fight winning streak having it’s pinnacle ended with a pair of Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights. Maidana would put up more than a fight, further cementing his place in the top pack at 147.
Prior to the fight
In the buildup to the Broner Maidana fight, Broner’s trash talk was in rare form. Though always having been an expert in this category, he seemed to kick it up a notch.
The most notable line was when Broner said he would beat Maidana so bad he would learn how to speak English and say “Adrien, you a bad m*****f***er.” It is also worth noting that Broner was an astronomical favorite to win the fight by pretty much ALL publications.
I must admit that I too thought the skills and speed of Broner would overwhelm Maidana. On paper the fight was a clear win for Broner, probably even a shut out or KO. Thankfully, fights are not won on paper but in the ring.
The first round was highly interesting to say the least. Maidana came out pumping his “new and improved” jab up and down.
At about 20 seconds in, Maidana lands a clipping overhand right that momentarily buckles the knees of Adrien Broner. Its effect is completely acknowledged by Broner as he went into full defensive mode afterwards.
Maidana Wobbles Broner
In the ensuing moments Maidana would go on to land quality power shots throughout the round.
With about 15 seconds left to go in the round, Maidana lunges in for a punch and ends up off balance.
Broner, being the character that he is takes advantage of Maidana’s misstep and proceeds to bizarrely hump Maidana.
After thoroughly battering Maidana in the following rounds Maidana would get his revenge by returning the exact favor in the 11th round.
The second round could be considered the literal and figurative unraveling of Adrien Broner the fighter.
In the opening of the second round Maidana uses a few throwaway jabs to set up the history-making knockdown of Adrien Broner. (He had never been knocked down).
The setup itself was a beauty and showed many that Maidana was not just a brawler (as he was perceived as purely being by many at the time).
Maidana had made an effort to place jabs to the body in the opening round – perhaps to perfectly set up the punch that was thrown in the second.
Broner Gets Floored
After a few jabs to the body Maidana came in seemingly looking to throw another body jab, BUT changed its trajectory at the last moment which landed completely flush on Broner.
Maidana would go on to further rough Broner up, dropping him one more time in the process.
Broner offered little to no resistance over the course of the fight.
It’s a good thing this fight wasn’t fought on paper huh?We would have missed one of the biggest upsets of this generation.
Round 2 proved to be pivotal on the night.
(Image credit: Naoki Fukuda)
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