Lightweight champion Mikey Garcia moves up in weight to face former four division world champion Adrien Broner on July 29th, 2017 at the Barclays Center in New York.
Multiple Division Champs
This is a battle between two men who have won world titles in at least three different weight divisions. Garcia is a three-division world champion, while Broner has won four belts in as many weight classes. Mikey Garcia is undefeated in 36 bouts with 30 KOs. Thirteen of his last 14 wins have come by stoppage and he is coming off a January knockout victory over Dejan Zlaticanin. It will be Garcia’s second fight this year and third since 2016. He’s really trying to make up for lost time after being in a long layoff due to a contract dispute.
Broner, meanwhile, has a 33-2 record, with his two losses coming at the hands of Marcos Maidana and Shawn Porter. It’s interesting to note that both bouts were fought at the welterweight division so Broner is really undefeated at 140 pounds. Broner has all the tools to be a great boxer but has been lazy and passive in some of his recent fights.
Odds and Prediction
Mikey Garcia is the solid favorite here at -450, while Adrien Broner is the underdog at +420. Don’t let those odds fool you, though. This is yet another great boxing matchup for 2017. Hats off to both men for stepping up to face each other.
Garcia should be the more prepared fighter in this bout, as you don’t know what you’re getting with Broner. That’s why he’s called The Problem. Despite that, you could make a case for both. If Mikey Garcia employs his patient style of fighting where he just pick spots, Broner is a world of trouble. Garcia will wear Broner down and may stop him late in the fight. But then Mikey has said that he wants to be aggressive in this fight and go for the KO. Should he do that, he will fall to Broner’s plan. The Problem is an excellent counter puncher who has serious knockout power.
Mikey himself has impressive knockout power but at a contested weight of 140 pounds, it will be Broner who has the advantage in size and punching power. It’s going to be interesting to see if Mikey Garcia can hurt Broner in this fight. But even if he can’t hurt The Problem, Garcia is going to box him all night long. We’re picking Mikey Garcia to beat Adrien Broner on points.