TIRED of hearing opponent Jarrell Miller brag about what he was going to do to him, Gerald Washington said, “I hope someone is holding him accountable for all the words he’s been saying.” Don’t hope for too long Gerald, because in boxing there is never any accountability. No one ever takes transcripts from past press conferences and tells the fighter he has cried wolf too many times to be taken seriously again. Instead we sit there and politely listen to them until we believe they might actually be telling the truth.
At yesterday’s press conference in Brooklyn, the trash talking was between the heavyweights, but for the most part the focus was on what Adrien Broner and Mikey Garcia had to say. And they told us nothing we haven’t heard before. Broner said, “I made sure not to cut corners this camp.” So what he is essentially telling us is that he cut corners in other training camps. The only thing is that he never said it at the time. Believe Broner at your own risk.
Garcia is explosive and exciting inside the ring, quiet outside it. In any event when you are unbeaten as he is you don’t need excuses. However, if he should lose to Broner, Garcia will have a litany of them he will be pressured to deliver from his inner circle.
“I’m coming to mess Mikey up,” says Broner. ”Robert Garcia [Mikey’s trainer] has some confidence from beating me with Marcos Maidana, but Mikey is not Maidana.” No he’s not Adrian, he is better.
I believe Broner when he says he’s done all he can to get ready for this fight. I also believe it won’t matter. Broner turns 28 today, a relatively young age, but his window to stardom has probably closed. He has had weight problems, legal issues, etc. He has regressed, or maybe, just maybe been overrated all along.
A few years ago they were trying to pass Broner off as the next Floyd Mayweather, a comparison that he was all too happy to embrace. Mayweather would pass the mantle of pound-for-pound king to him. But even in the unlikely event that Broner wins on Saturday evening, he would not even be the best man in the junior welterweight division as long as Terence Crawford is competing at 140lbs. But first things first, a win for Broner over Garcia changes everything, gives him his swagger back. And it could happen if the same Garcia who fought Elio Rojas two fights ago shows up. Garcia was hit with alarming ease in that contest. Granted it was his first contest after a lengthy layoff, but he can’t afford to have Broner hit him so regularly.
This would seem to be Garcia’s time to shine, the breakthrough fight that will make him a star, put him on everyone’s pound for pound list.
Garcia by a wide decision is the pick here.
