THE suspense is over, Adrian Broner has made weight. He gets to hold on to his million-dollar purse without it being slashed in half, which was the penalty had he come in over the contracted 140lbs weight limit. Judging by the shouts of joy from the Broner camp you would have thought that he had just defeated Mikey Garcia. Broner’s history suggested that he would not make weight, but money talked this time around.
Happy birthday Adrian: Broner turned 28 today and was presented with a cake after he got off the scales at the Brooklyn Marriot. AB was animated and made gestures of ill will toward Mikey Garcia during the staredown, but warmly shook his hand before departing. There was a tense moment though when Broner was interviewed in front of the crowd by David Diamante. When asked was he concerned about Garcia’s power, an annoyed Broner said, “You act like I don’t have power.” Diamante was uncomfortable, but quickly recovered
This is not a grudge match. It is hard to get mad at the humble Garcia who had a large family contingent following him around.
Jermall Charlo had his game face on. While he did not make any threatening gestures toward opponent Jorge Sebastian Heiland, outside of the obligatory staredown Charlo completely ignored him, would not even shake hands.
If there is a grudge match on tomorrow night’s bill at The Barclays Center, it would be the heavyweight encounter between Jarrell Miller and Gerald Washington. Miller who weighed a whooping 298lbs was over the top, looking like he would have a row if given the slightest provocation. Washington wisely kept his cool and seemed supremely confident.
Women can have just as much of a mean streak as men, but Katie Taylor and Jasmine Clarkson were very ladylike in their encounter. They greeted one another quickly and politely, then walked away.
I exchanged pleasantries with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. Despite the prestigious position that Sulaiman holds there are no airs about him. He is down to earth and greets everyone warmly.
When the weigh in festivities ended, matchmaker Eric Bottjer and I took a short cab ride to a small café named Broccolino around the corner from the Barcays. The purpose was to attend a small informal gathering for Lou DiBella promoted junior welterweight Regis Prograis from Houston. Also on hand was new DiBella signee, Accra’s lightweight Richard Commey.
The African has had hard luck. His only two losses were by split decision in championship contests to Robert Easter Jr and Denis Shafikov. “I think about it a lot” he says. “I did not think that I lost either time.”
Prograis unbeaten in 20 fights (17 inside), made everyone take notice last month when he blitzed then unbeaten Joel Diaz Jr in two rounds. “I wanted to make a statement in that fight, but did not think it would end that quickly” he admits.
Prograis traditionally enters the ring wearing a mask that signifies he is a bogeyman. He does so for two reasons: “I want to create and image for myself and I enjoy having fun doing it” he says.
