By Michael Collins: The Adrien Broner vs. Vincente Escobedo mismatch. I mean, the Broner-Escobedo fight is now officially on for tonight for their HBO televised bout at U.S. Bank Arena, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Escobedo’s original purse of $150,000 has been bumped up considerably with him now making double the amount along with the $30,000 he received in weight penalties against Broner yesterday for failing to make the 130 pound weight limit during the weigh-in. Broner then had to make the contractually agreed on weight of 140 pounds for this morning’s weigh-in.
However, he once again failed, this time coming in at 143.5 pounds. For a while after that it looked like the fight wasn’t going to happen, as Escobedo’s manager was naturally highly pissed at the prospects of his fighter basically facing a welterweight tonight. But after Escobedo’s cash was sufficiently bumped up, they finally agreed to take the fight. As of now, Broner reportedly has rehydrated up to 148 pounds according to Steve Kim, and possibly may be over 150 by the time he steps inside the ring to face Escobedo. That’s not really a big deal, though, because WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. does that all the time and no one makes a deal out of that, so why should they for Broner? If other fighters are getting away with it then Broner might as well join them.
As far as the weight having any bearing on the actual fight, it won’t because Escobedo was always going to take a beating in this fight no matter what weight Broner came in. I hate to say it but Escobedo is basically going to get slaughtered in this bout, but at least he has a good excuse for after the fight. He can blame it on Broner’s weight, but he never did stand a chance in this fight. For those who doubt me, watch the action tonight on HBO and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Escobedo is going to take a real pounding. I just hope his trainer throws in the white towel when things start to look dismal early on. It’s better Escobedo not needlessly soak up one-way punishment, because he’ll be in a good position to fight for the vacant WBO super featherweight title again after this fight now that Broner is moving up to the lightweight division.