Emanuel Taylor: Adrien Broner has made a major mistake in taking this fight

Softly spoken 23-year-old Emanuel Taylor, 18-2 (12) says he will defeat Adrien Broner next month and then achieve his goal of winning a world title at light-welterweight. Coming off a good July points win over Karim Mayfield, โ€œTranzformer,โ€ as Taylor is known, feels the controversial and outspoken Broner has made a big mistake in agreeing to fight him.

Q: First of all, which of Adrien Bronerโ€™s fights have you seen and what do you think of him in general?

Emanuel Taylor: โ€œIโ€™ve seen the Marcos Maidana fight and the fight with Paulie [Malignaggi]. All I care about is doing what I have to do on the night to get the W. I think heโ€™s a great fighter. Heโ€™s good at what he does. He talks a lot but from what Iโ€™ve seen heโ€™s a great fighter.โ€

You donโ€™t think Broner is more of a hype job?

โ€œI wouldnโ€™t say that. Heโ€™s probably the biggest name Iโ€™ll have fought so far. But heโ€™s used to fighting smaller guys; who he could push around and back up. He wonโ€™t be able to do that with me. I expect a lot of movement, lateral movement, from Broner. Iโ€™m training too hard for this fight, man! A win over Broner would be amazing. Iโ€™m right on schedule with my training. Camp has been a whole lot of hard work.โ€

For those that have yet to see you box, how would you describe your style?

โ€œIโ€™m a boxer-puncher. I can box when I have to, I can fight when I have to. It depends on the particular fight [which tactics I use]. I bring a lot to the table.โ€

And what was your amateur record and how did you first get into boxing?

โ€œMy amateur record, I had 186 fights with 20 losses. Most of my losses came at the start of my career when I was young. I won the national Golden Gloves five times in a row and I won the national PAL title three times in a row. I was too young to go to the Olympics so I turned pro (in March of 2009, aged 18). My dad got me into boxing, to keep me out of trouble; me and my brother. I went to the gym to watch my brother train and my dad pretty much forced me into it, to keep me out of trouble.โ€

As a pro you have two close decision losses, to Prenice Brewer in 2011 and to Chris Algieri in February of this year. Do you consider both defeats as fair verdicts?

โ€œThe loss to Brewer was a robbery. I won at least five-rounds (ofย anย eight-rounder). Everyone said to me that Iโ€™d won the fight. The loss to Algieri, yeah, I lost that fight. I was rusty, I had been off for ten months. Not making any excuses, but my timing was off and not on point.โ€

And what would you say was your best win thus far?

โ€œLast time out, I beat Karim Mayfield, Iโ€™d say that was my best win as far as when Iโ€™ve had to go the distance with someone. But my (eighth-round) TKO over [Victor Manuel] Cayo is probably my best win. That was a good win for me.โ€

And what would a win over Broner mean for you?

โ€œIt would be amazing. I plan on staying at 140 for a couple more years, until I win a title there. Then Iโ€™ll look at maybe moving up to welterweight. But first things first and Iโ€™m focusing on Broner.ย  I will beat Broner; he has made a major mistake in taking this fight!โ€

Who is the best fighter in the world at light-welterweight right now in your opinion?

โ€œIโ€™d say Danny Garcia is the best right now. Heโ€™s the man right now. But I sparred Danny, back when he was getting ready for the [Lucas] Matthysse fight (Sept. 2013). They kicked me out of camp, because I was giving him too much work. We did four rounds [of sparring] every other day until they kicked me out. I also like Mauricio Herrera and Lamont Peterson. I guess Herrera really won the fight with Garcia. My goal is to win a world title at light-welterweight. First Iโ€™ve gotta beat Broner. He talks a lot but at the end of the day, no matter what he does or says, weโ€™ve still got to throw hands; weโ€™ve still got to fight. His talking wonโ€™t win him the fight.โ€

You plan on putting a lot of pressure on him, bullying him?

“Well, I ainโ€™t gonna give up my game plan (Emanuel also preferred not to say who he has been sparring with for the Broner fight), but I do expect a lot of lateral movement from him. Iโ€™m just gonna do my job, whatever it takes to get that W.โ€

Picture courtesy of Tom Casino/Showtime

Share Page