Mike Stafford, the trainer for former WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner, thinks he can beat Marcos Maidana in the rematch if Broner comes out quickly fighting at the pace he was at in the last half of his loss to Maidana last month on December 14th in San Antonio, Texas. Broner lost the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, but you can put most of the responsibility for Broner’s loss on him starting off too slowly in the first 6 rounds.
Broner fought like he was half asleep during the first part of the fight, as he threw few punches and he let Maidana have control over the action. It was like Broner gave the fight to Maidana, at least that part of the fight. When Broner did rally in the 2nd half, he so far behind that he needed a knockout to win, and that wasn’t going to happen.
“You know, Adrien, we’re going to do it, this time,” Stafford said to RingTV. “This time, Adrien can do it if he does early like he did in the later rounds. If Adrien starts out in the fight like he did in the later rounds, then he wins the fight. He can’t have the second and eighth rounds. The second and the eighth rounds killed him.”
If Broner starts out quickly in the rematch then one of several things could happen. A. Broner could get blown out quickly by Maidana by walking straight into his power shots. 2. Broner might wear himself out in trying to keep up with the fast pace that Maidana sets. C. Broner fights Maidana to a standstill and then finds himself battling tooth and nail in the 2nd half of the fight.
It’s definitely worth a try for Broner to start out quicker in the rematch. However, it might be wise for Stafford to try and get Broner to use his wheels to move around the ring to avoid some of Maidana’s shots. He should also think about throwing a jab every now and then, because he’s not going to beat a tough fighter like Maidana by trying to trade power shots with him.
Maidana’s the stronger guy, and if he’s able to land his power shots at a standing target, he’s likely to come out ahead in this battle every time. Stafford needs to teach Broner to avoid some of the head shots that Maidana will be throwing at him, because he can’t be taking those kinds of shots for 12 rounds and expect to win the fight.
