Bryant Jennings vs. Artur Szpilka on January 25th

jennings4534 December 15, 2013 – Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions and Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing are happy to announce an agreement has been reached for rising heavyweight contenders Bryant Jennings (17-0, 9 KOs) and Artur Szpilka (16-0, 12 KOs) to meet in a 10-round showdown on January 25 in New York at Madison Square Garden Arena.

The undefeated pair will meet in an HBO-televised doubleheader, headlined by “Mikey” Garcia’s first defense of his WBO Super Featherweight Championship. The fight will mark the HBO debuts of both fighters.

Co-promoted by Antonio Leonard Promotions, Philadelphia’s Jennings, currently ranked #5 in the WBA and #4 in both the WBC and IBF rankings, will be returning from a seven-month layoff for this fight.

Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Broner/Maidana, Thurman, Ariza Caught on Camera, & Goldenboy Promotions Incredible Year!!!

Shawn O. (Brooklyn, NYC): What a fight between Broner and Maidana! I was pulling for Maidana, but I didn’t think he’d get it done! Do you think it was a case of Broner being “exposed” or was Maidana just the better man last Saturday night?

Vivek W. (ESB): In my weekly pre-fight Facebook post, I listed a quote that said “To he who much is given, much is expected. And in the sport of Boxing, those who declare themselves great must first be tested”! In the end, Adrien Broner was….in more ways than one! Some viewed this fight as a “Fight of the Year” candidate. I think that overwhelming response answers the question relative to whether or not he was “exposed”. You can’t have that type of battle and be considered a “bust”. I don’t think Broner was “exposed”, in terms of being cleared as a bad fighter. “Exposed” in the sense that he isn’t as polished as his smack talk made it seem? Yeah….I’d co-sign that angle. Clearly we saw that there are a few things which prevent him from being that elite, world class fighter any time soon that we were beginning to think he was.

Broner gets beat up and knocked down by Maidana

After the bell sounded to signify the end of the match, people were cheering, and giving the middle finger to Adrian “The Problem” Broner who had many problems in his first defense of his WBA welterweight title against Marcos “Chino” Maidana.

While hearing the lopsided scores Broner did not take to his father’s attempt at brushing his hair this time. By unanimous decision and new.

Broner wouldn’t even stay for an interview, he would get taken from the ring right to the dressing room while people hurled trash at him, which was completely projected how not just the crowd – but most boxing fans feel about Broner and the tactics and antics Broner used in the ring.

It was a Big Problem for “The Problem” as “El Chino” cracks down

Calling last night’s 2013 Showtime Boxing closer an “upset of the year” is insulting for the Argentine banger known as Marcos Maidana. In this fantastic match-up, the world was able to see a fighter rewarded for his dedication and focus, and another humbled after an extravaganza of unnecessary and disrespectful antics. It seems that Maidana, a fighter known for his power, resilience, and recuperating ability, was not the “easy work” his opponent made him out to be. Kudos to Robert Garcia for putting in tremendous work with Maidana, of which to me stamina and his ability to feint and throw punches at awkward angles MADE this fight. The odds were unquestionably stacked against the Argentine, with most experts pointing to Broner’s incredible hand-speed and accuracy as being the driver factor for his inevitable success in this fight. There were many, however, that saw some chinks in the armor, when Paulie Malinaggi was able to land on AB’s chin much more than the boxing community expected. Broner’s lackluster performance vs the sometimes wild Ponce De Leon also fed this argument.

Marcos Maidana solves The Problem

John Lennon believed[1] “there’s no problem, only solutions.” How prophetic. After 12 brutal rounds at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Marcos ‘El Chino’ Maidana finally solved Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner and delivered the Cincinnati wunderkind’s first loss.

Going into the fight, Broner was a heavy, odds-on favourite. Bookmakers rarely get their numbers wrong and rated The Problem a shoo-in to take his record to 28-0, most probably by way of decision. The perceived wisdom of fight commentators was that Maidana was cannon-fodder – a tough, durable opponent carefully chosen to allow Broner to showcase his skills and further his credentials as a pay-per-view star come 2014.

Maidana punishes Broner – a hype job exposed, or can Broner bounce back?

There is nothing quite as satisfying in the sport of boxing as seeing a brash loudmouth silenced, especially when the big mouth is closed by a humble, likeable warrior like Marcos Maidana. And last night in San Antonio, boxing’s biggest mouth was well and firmly shut tight as “El Chino” dropped would be superstar Adrien Broner twice, frequently hurt and wobbled him and at times came close to running Broner clean out of the ring.

Coming into the fight, Broner, a talented boxer that had yet to pass a genuine acid test, was expected by most to win yet he was well beaten by the stronger, more experienced and harder hitting Argentine slugger. Maidana can now enjoy some big paydays as the defending WBA welterweight champion, yet most of the headlines pertaining to last night’s fight have been written about Broner; such is the appeal of the story of the arrogant, some say genuinely nasty fighter having been exposed and humbled.

Broner v Maidana – PUNCH POETRY

PUNCH POETRY:

Maidana did what he said, silencing Broner putting the problem to bed.

He entered the arena with mic in hand,
All guns blazing he had the upper-hand,
Maidana knew what he had to do,

To hurt Broner – show him something new,
The second round and Broner hits the floor,

Invincible reputation slung out of the door,

Despite some losses Maidana’s a beast,
He may be older but he has serious power at least,

Broner looked bemused as the overhand right took effect,

Struggling to find his in ring dominance and trying to connect,

Kubrat Pulev stops late sub Joey Abell to defend his IBF intercontinental title

Joey Abell filled in for injured Sherman Williams on a week’s notice and faced undefeated Pulev in Neubrandenburg, Germany on Dec. 14. The IBF intercontinental title and Pulev’s hard-gained number 1 IBF ranking were at stake.
Abell weighed in at 248.5, Pulev at 252.8 and both appeared to be fit full-sized heavyweights. Abell’s southpaw stance was expected to give Pulev some trouble. Pulev is a notorious slow starter and this fight was no exception, his initial passive game allowed the over-matched Abell to score some decent power points in the first round.

The difference in class was obvious and Kubrat Pulev had an overwhelming technical and tactical advantage over his opponent. What he lacked was the speed and power to dispose of this “stay busy” sparring partner in a convincing fashion. Abell ran out of ideas in the first round, he ran out of steam in the second and came out fighting in survival mode in the third.