COMMENTARY | Adrien Broner made his official debut at 135 pounds a memorable one, as he dominated respected titleholder Antonio DeMarco to pick up the WBC Lightweight strap via 8th round TKO. For Broner, it was a fantastic victory, a statement win, and the best outing of his still young career. Nevertheless, the comparisons to Floyd Mayweather's standout win against Diego Corrales in 2011 are nowhere close to the mark, and in fact, are outrageously lazy.
For anyone who watched the Broner vs. DeMarco match on HBO, you will have heard repeated references by the announcing team to Mayweather vs. Corrales. As Broner very much fashions himself in the mold of the bombastic, divisive and "flashy" Money Mayweather, and is an athletically gifted black fighter, the folks at HBO apparently want us to think he is indeed the next coming of Mayweather himself.
He's not, and calling Broner vs. DeMarco the equivalent of Mayweather vs. Corrales is actually insulting to anyone's intelligence who knows the back story of both fights.
Mayweather vs. Corrales
Floyd Mayweather and Diego Corrales fought on January 20, 2001 at the MGM Grand is Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather entered the fight with a 24-0 record, with 18 knockout victories. After picking up his WBC Super Featherweight title by dominating Genaro Hernandez, he defended that strap five times before meeting Corrales.
Corrales was 33-0 with 28 knockouts entering the fight. He held the IBF title at 130 pounds, and had defended it three times after winning it from then unbeaten Robert Garcia - yes, the current top trainer.
This was a battle between unbeaten, proven titleholders, regarded unanimously as two fighters amongst the top 10 pound for pound at the time of their meeting. Mayweather battered Corrales, knocking him down five times before his corner stopped the fight in the 10th round.
Broner vs. DeMarco
Adrien Broner and Antonio DeMarco may have been regarded as two of the top guys at Lightweight when they fought, however, it was by default.
Broner never had an official fight at the weight - he merely missed weight by an absurd degree in his last match at 130 pounds. DeMarco, the WBC titleholder, had made two defenses of his title against modest opposition, but had only risen so high in the rankings due to the departure from the division of its top fighters - Juan Manuel Marquez and Brandon Rios.
A tough and willful fighter, DeMarco had however been previously stopped in a fight, two and a half years ago against the late Edwin Valero, and was certainly far from "unbeatable" in anyone's eyes. He wasn't anywhere in the discussion of the top 20 fighters in the world, let alone the top 10. If Broner was, it was merely through potential, not merit.
Broner dominated DeMarco, stopping him in 8 rounds, and it was a high quality, memorable performance. It just carried nowhere near the significance of Mayweather's meeting against the late Chico.
The comparison of Broner vs. DeMarco to Mayweather vs. Corrales is inaccurate, and is rooted in nothing but self-created hype and over-promotion. It's the type of hyperbole, bordering on outright lies, which really needs to stop.
Sources: HBO Boxing Coverage, Boxrec.com
Jake Emen runs the boxing news website ProBoxing-Fans.com, where you can find breaking news stories, interviews, rankings and more. You can also follow Jake and ProBoxing-Fans.com on Twitter, @ProBoxingFans.
