Manny Pacquaio vs Adrien Broner
Badou Jack vs Marcus Browne
Jack vs Browne (Light Heavyweights)
This is a very interesting fight. Browne, a former Olympian and a top prospect who is now a title contender versus former world champion Badou Jack. This is a fight that I could see either guy winning by decision or KO and that is rare and is what makes it something fans should be looking forward to.
Jack has fought by far the better competition. Considering that he was a world champion at 168 pound before moving up to 175 should make that pretty obvious. He is the naturally smaller guy but his two fights at light heavy have proven that he belongs there. He dominated and stopped former champion Nathan Cleverly and then fought to a draw with Light Heavy champ at the time Adonis Stevenson in a fight that, while close, most thought Jack won. He also holds wins over George Groves and Anthony Direll at 168 pounds. Jack has good skills, solid power and although his one loss is by KO, since that fight he has fought some big punchers and his chin and heart have held up very well.
Marcus Browne is a big, strong light heavy. A former Olympian and a southpaw, he has very good skills and good power. His level of competition as a pro has been decent although Jack is a big step up. There have been fights where Browne looks sensational, his KO over Seanie Monaghan comes to mind. But there have also been fights where he looks very vulnerable and he has been dropped several times by different fighters.
I think this fight will be very competitive for the first 6 rounds. I can see both guys hurting the other and maybe even scoring an early knockdown. I think though that Jack still has something left in the tank and his experience in gutting out close 12 round fights against world class fighters like James Degale, Adonis Stevenson and Lucian Bute will be the difference. It is possible that after a long career and some hard fought battles that Jack’s best days are behind him and if he gets old overnight than Browne is definitely good enough to get the W. But I think my first scenario is more probable and Jack will pull away in the second half of the fight and probably win by decision although a late KO is possible.
Prediction
Jack by Unanimous Decision
Pacquaio vs Broner (Welterweights)
This fight is huge when it comes to name recognition which is why it is on pay per view but it does not belong there. A 40 year old Pac versus a guy who has basically done nothing in his last several fights. Don’t get me wrong, I am interested in it and believe it will be entertaining but I think it should be on Showtime and not on pay per view.
Even though Pac is 40 and is not the fighter he was 5 years ago he is still world class and still beats world class fighters. His last win was a stoppage over former world champion Lucas Mathysse which was very impressive although it seemed to me that for some reason Mathysse fought without any fire at all. Pac also holds a dominant win over Jessie Vargas, a guy that Broner fought to a draw with fairly recently. We all know what Pac does. He throws fast combinations from a southpaw stance and gives great angles while doing it. This style will be a nightmare for Broner.
Broner at 135 pounds looked like a star and he did win several world titles in different weight classes. Unfortunately for him though he kept moving up in weight and every time he did that he was less impressive. He simply is a very small welterweight and has never looked very impressive at 147 pounds. He has two wins, two losses and a draw in this division. The two wins were both very close decisions and the losses were both pretty clear. At 147 he has become very flat footed with a hands up defense and counterpunches more than takes the lead.
As I said earlier, stylewise this fight is horrible for Broner. He stands still and puts his hands up, letting his opponent get his punches off and then Broner looks to counterpunch. Letting someone with Pacquaio’s speed get off and waiting to counter will never work. Pacquaio’s angles and footwork will have him out of danger by the time Broner fires back. Even if a lot of the punches are blocked by Broner Pac will still outwork him by a lot. And at 147 pounds Broner is a very average puncher so I don’t believe that he will be able to hurt Pac. I do not expect this to be very competitive, there are probably 10 guys at 147 who beat Broner and Pac is one of them although Broner has a good chin and does not take chances so he will probably go the distance.
Prediction
Pac by Unanimous Decision
Other action this weekend:
-Bryant Jennings vs Oscar Rivas(Heavyweights) Televised by ESPN+
Good solid heavyweight fight. Jennings the veteran contender and Rivas, a former Olympian with a glossy record but taking a big step up. Jennings still should have enough left to get the W and put himself into a big fight next.
-Demetrius Andrade vs Artur Avakov (WBO Middleweight Title)
Jorge Linares vs Pablo Cesar Cano (Lightweights)
Both of these fights will be televised on DAZN live from the Theater at MSG
Quick Notes:
Caleb Plant’s win over Jose Uzcategui for a piece of the Super Middleweight title this past Sunday was a perfect example of a guy who gets his shot and does not let it slip away. Uzcategui was the way more experienced fighter who had beaten much better competition. I expected him to handle Plant and stop him late. To Plant’s credit he came out in the first round, stood his ground and got respect, scoring two knockdowns in the first 6 rounds. When Uzcategui tried to rally late Plant was able to hold him off showing a good chin and conditioning. I gained a ton of respect for Plant and that was a big W and he is now a legit world champion.
Every year there is usually a big fight on Cinco De Mayo weekend and this year will be no different. Canelo Alvarez versus Danny Jacob’s just got made for May 4 and this is a great fight, probably the best fight you could make in the middleweight division. If I had to guess I would think the winner will be gunning for GGG again. My initial thought here is that Canelo wins but Jacobs is a very good fighter who will definitley come to fight and can not be taken lightly. The best part here is that it will be shown live on DAZN which means no pay per view. Pay your 9.99 a month and you can watch. These streaming apps like DAZN and ESPN+ are the future and that is good news because they will be replacing PPV which is dying a slow death.
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