Trolls trolling trolls. That's the kind of poetic justice that more than a few boxing fans would like to see from this weekend's biggest bout, featuring lightweights Adrien Broner and Antonio DeMarco. Many would like to see Broner, who failed to make weight for his last bout after admitting to a diet of Twinkies, punished by DeMarco, who recently admitted his diet has consisted of pizza and hamburgers. Maybe he's stumbled upon some kind of dieting holy grail, because he looks pretty good.
Apart from that fight on HBO, there's super middleweight tough guy Carl Froch taking on Philadelphia's Yusuf Mack at home in Nottingham, hard hitting small men Brian Viloria and Hernan “Tysoncito” Marquez and much more besides.
- Adrien Broner vs. Antonio DeMarco, Saturday, HBO, Atlantic City. Boxing returns to Atlantic City less than a month after Hurricane Sandy devastated the boardwalk, and what a comeback this is – one of the most anticipated fights of the fall. Broner (24-0, 20KO), AKA “The Problem,” is a super-fast, super-flashy Floyd Mayweather wannabe with the schtick coming out his ears. He's managed by big time manager/dark overlord Al Haymon and HBO obviously see him as part of the future of boxing. Standing in his way is DeMarco (28-2-1, 21KO), a former Tijuana street kid turned badass southpaw boxer-puncher. He has real power in his punches, he's taller than Broner and has probably one of the best chins in boxing — owning the distinction of being the only man the late Edwin Valero faced that didn't end up on the canvas. Broner has previously had trouble with a tough Mexican southpaw in the form of Daniel Ponce de Leon, who is nowhere near as smooth as DeMarco. But that was nearly two years ago, and Broner has probably gotten better and more mature. I'm not sure that he can deal with DeMarco, though, who isn't going to let Broner's trash talk or punches bother him. Broner better be ready to stay away for 12 tough rounds, because DeMarco will be there to hurt him if he slips up or tires. On the televised undercard is another man touted as the future of American boxing, heavyweight Seth Mitchell (25-0-1, 19KO). He's taking contender and part time Wlad Klitschko trainer Johnathon Banks (28-1-1, 18KO). Neither Mitchell nor Banks are massive heavyweights, at 6'2” and 6'3” respectively, but both have a bit of pop. In fact, Mitchell seems to have a lot of pop. Banks is going to be the slickest and best opponent of Mitchell's career to this point, though. Banks has fast hand and feet for a heavyweight, an educated jab and a variety of punches. Mitchell proved he can weather a bit of adversity against Chazz Witherspoon in April, but that fight only went three rounds. Against Banks he best come prepared to go 12.
- Brian Viloria vs. Hernan Marquez, Saturday, WealthTV, Los Angeles. One of the very best possible match-ups in the lower weight classes comes to fruition Saturday, pitting the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board's #1 and #3 flyweights, Brain “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria (31-3, 18KO) and Hernan “Tysoncito” Marquez (34-2, 25KO), against each other. You're also looking at two of the divisions biggest punchers and best nicknames. Viloria is the more disciplined of the two, able to work behind a jab, patiently waiting to throw a rocket left hook. In his recent fights against Omar Nino Romero and Giovani Segura, everything seems to have come together for the experienced Filipino-American. Marquez is much more wild, more than willing to take a couple of punches in order to dish a few out. He's tough too, getting up off the canvas to stop Luis Concepcion in his signature win. If Viloria brings the form he brought against Segura and Nino Romero, I'll have to back him – but Marquez is the kind of guy you don't really like to bet against. On the undercard, junior flyweight #1 Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (33-0, 28KO) faces untested Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada (22-1, 18KO). Estrada looks okay from what little I've seen of him, but probably not on the level of “little chocolate.”
- Carl Froch vs. Yusaf Mack, Saturday, Integrated Sport PPV, Nottingham. Froch (29-2, 21KO), one of the toughest men in boxing, finally takes a slightly-easier-than-usual fight against long-time fringe contender Mack (31-4-2, 17KO). I don't think this is really going to be competitive, despite talk that Mack has had a great training camp. He's always struggled with his stamina and never been able to beat an elite opponent. And that's what Froch is. He's hard hitting, an underrated boxer and tenacious as all get out. I see him getting rid of Mack before the 6th. English light heavyweight Tony Bellew (18-1, 12KO) fights on the undercard.
- The Rest. Twitter star/one-time actual boxer Omar Henry (12-0-1, 9KO) has his second fight this year on ShoBox, against Juan Ubaldo Cabrera (20-0, 14KO). Really struggling to give a shit… TBRB #9 light heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara (22-2, 12KO) fights Tommy Karpency (21-3-1, 14KO) in Chicago Friday… The first episode of Showtime's “All Access” series for Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout will premiere on Friday night. It'll probably be worth watching, Showtime's standard for this sort of thing has been very high... That other boxing docupromo, HBO's 24/7, launches another Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez series on Saturday night. I'm not really sure what new they can offer at this stage, but tune in to hear Liev Schrieber's dreamy voice.
