Adrian Broner vs. Shawn Porter

MGM Grand, las Vegas, NV, June 20
TV: NBC Sports Net
By Peter Lim

This should be fun to watch. Porter's a solidly-built, full-fledged welterweight who can box and who can punch but lacks the finesse and speed that the naturally-smaller Broner possesses. When completely disciplined, Broner is frustratingly hard to hit but, cocky as he may be, he is no Mayweather and sporadically succumbs to defensive lapses.

At 147, Broner was mauled by Marcos Maidana and struggled against Paulie Malignaggi, both of whom, like Broner, were also blown up 140-pounders. Maidana is a heavy-handed slugger, Malignaggi a slick stylist and Porter is a middle-of-the-road hybrid of the two.

Size trumps savvy in this fight. Broner's punching power, while debilitating at 130 and 135, was significantly diminished at welterweight. Bigger and stronger even at the 143-pound catch weight, Porter will simply walk Broner down with harder punches, forcing the smaller-framed man to fight on survival mode by the middle rounds. Porter wins a comfortable decision in the 117-111 to 116-112 range at the end of the night.   

Afterthoughts:
Everything unfolded as predicted except that it was Broner who scored the knockdown. Who would've thunk it?