Marcos “El Chino” Maidana shocks the world and becomes the new WBA Welterweight Champion

By Joseph Herron - 12/15/2013 - Comments

maidana5434In a clear candidate for “upset of the year” and “fight of the year”, Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs) lifted the WBA Welterweight title from Adrien Broner (27-1, 22 KOs) in a thrilling twelve round unanimous decision victory.

In the opening round, it was all Maidana. The hard punching Argentine made his presence felt right away by dropping right hand bombs to the head of the three division world champion.

In the opening seconds of round two, Maidana floored Broner for the first time in his career with a hard right hand to the head. Although the defending champ beat the count, Marcos quickly swarmed all over Adrien and scrapped him with hard shots to the body and head.

To open the third round, Broner gained his composure and started to land hard left hooks and overhand rights to the head of the rugged challenger. While the champ landed some clean, effective shots that would have ordinarily buzzed a 135 pound fighter, it did very little to detour the former IBF 140 pound title holder.

In the fourth stanza, Broner seemed more relaxed and regularly slipped Maidana’s offensive assault, while countering effectively with sharp left hooks and straight right hands. In the final minute of the round, the defending champ began to confidently walk his opponent down, dictating the pace of the fight for the first time in the contest.

Both men came out and started trading to begin the fifth round. Although the two combatants exchanged hard shots to the delight of the fight fans in attendance, Broner began to pick off the Argentine banger from mid to long range. Despite being a very competitive round, Broner finally began to show his class in rounds five and six.

To begin the seventh round, Maidana once again attempted to take control of the fight, landing hard shots from mid range. The title challenger tried to press the action and moved forward with confidence while letting his hands go with regularity. Broner answered with clean left hooks and straight right hands that shook Marcos.

In the eighth round, after Maidana had seemingly been losing the round, the Argentine puncher cracked Adrien with a hard combination to the body and head that floored the champ once again. Although Broner was up in time, he was ostensibly hurt. Moments later, the playing field became even once again when Maidana butted the reigning champ to the chin. Referee Lawrence subsequently took away a point from the title challenger, negating the extra point rewarded from the knock down.

To open the ninth stanza, Broner was hurt badly with a left hook to the chin with well over two minutes remaining in the round. Despite having to hang on whenever Maidana got inside, Broner seemed to regain his composure in the final minute of the round. While the champ made it out of the hard three minute period, it was another big round for the underdog from Argentina.

The action ensued in the championship rounds, which showcased the heart and determination of both men. The two fighters traded savage blows that seemed to rock their opponent throughout the last quarter of the fight.

In the final minute of the eleventh stanza, Maidana rocked Broner with a hard left hook that staggered the incumbent champ back into the ropes. The blistering shot seemed to win an otherwise very difficult round to score. Marcos Maidana was ostensibly in position to pull off the upset and capture his second world title in his second weight division.

In the twelfth and final round, Broner buckled his challenger with a hard right hand to the jaw that backed up Maidana within the opening moments of the stanza. Although the 24 year old champ pressed the action, looking for the KO, Maidana did an excellent job tying up the reigning champ and taking time off of the clock. The defending title holder valiantly pressed the action, but time expired before he could do more real damage.

The judges at ringside scored the contest, 115-110, 116-109, and 117-109, in favor of the new WBA Welterweight Champion Marcos “El Chino” Maidana.

With the hard earned and well deserved victory, the Argentine banger becomes a two division world champion and hands Adrien Broner his first loss as a professional.

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