SHOULD HAVE BET ON MAIDANA

If I were a betting man, and I am, I would have picked Marcos Maidana to beat Adrien Broner, and I did…. thank you Marcos. Anyway, wanted to see if you thought Maidana was that good with his new trainer or Broner was just that bad/overrated?  

I tend to lean toward the latter since Broner struggled with Daniel Ponce De Leon and lost to Paulie Malignaggi in my opinion. What do you think is next for both fighters? Keith “One Time” Thurman versus Maidana would be explosive. Hell, “One Time” versus anyone would probably be explosive. Maybe this loss wakes Broner up. Maybe he realizes he can’t quite shoulder roll like Floyd Mayweather. Outside the ring maybe he becomes more dedicated to the craft, parties less, makes less horrible music, and stops making amateur porn, etc. I hope he does refocus because he still has potential, and he is usually entertaining. – Matt in Mattawan

Broner’s potential is still considerable. One doesn’t win major titles in three weight classes without having a lot of God-given ability and ring smarts. And one doesn’t go 12 hard rounds with Maidana without being very tough and determined. A lot of world-class welterweights would have been KTFO by Maidana’s relentless attack on Saturday.

Broner merely has to realize three things going forward:

1) He must be 100 percent dedicated to the sport and to learning his craft (i.e., train 365 days a year).

2) If he chooses to remain at welterweight, he cannot view himself as a puncher; he must compete with his skill, speed and ring generalship.

3) He must realize that there are some fighters who will not be intimidated or distracted by his antics and/or reputation (which took a huge hit on Saturday).

We’ll find out in 2014 if the Maidana fight was a wake-up call for the 24-year-old prodigy or the beginning of a downward spiral.

Regarding your question about whether Maidana was that good or Broner that bad/overrated, I think it’s a little bit of both. Maidana is what he is – a hard mother f___er. But he has improved since joining Robert Garcia’s stable of fighters. His balance and footwork is much better. His technique is a little sharper. He’s added a jab to his arsenal, he uses more feints and combinations and his conditioning is stronger.

I think Broner faced a better version of Maidana than Victor Ortiz, Amir Khan and Devon Alexander.

Broner is not “bad” at all. In fact, after gamely going 12 rounds with Maidana, I’d say the Cincinnati native is a “badass.” He’s got elite athleticism and world-class grit. However, I do agree that he was overrated in some areas. Clearly, he never deserved to be rated in anyone’s Pound for Pound (and I don’t think he was outside of THE RING’s sub-par top 10) given the overall quality of his opposition. His accomplishments were impressive for such a young man, but he didn’t face the best 130 pounders (who he enjoyed a ridiculous size advantage against), he only made a pit-stop at 135, and only had one bout at welterweight, which many observers thought he barely won.

His defense and ability to make adjustments during a tough fight was also overrated. He was nailed way too much by Maidana’s left hook and he never figured out a way to avoid it.

EXPOSED!

Hey Doug:

It’s been a while since I’ve written you, but after Saturday’s fight, I couldn’t help myself. I have one word for Adrian Broner…. EXPOSED…. I thought that Maidana was made to order for him. I thought he would have his way with MM and stop him in the mid to late rounds.

Maidana literally beat him to a pulp and that acting display after the headbutt was disgraceful. I mean Broner got away with just about everything on Saturday and still got his ass kicked. Could not have happened to a more humble dude…RIGHT!!!!!! And then like the little bitch that he is, he runs to the locker room afterwards probably to cry on mommy’s shoulder. Yeah… yeah… yeah… I know there are reports of him suffering a broken jaw… Hey, sticking around to face the music after you got all the trash talk and then getting your ass kicked is the right thing a real man does…. just ask Arthur Abraham. He fought several rounds with a broken jaw. 

I will give Broner credit for surviving and fighting while hurt. The dude definitely has a good beard. But not to take anything from Maidana because he fought a hell of a fight and showed much, much improved boxing and a hell of a chin, too.  Broner was touting himself as the next big thing and he got beat by a very good welterweight, but not a great one.

Sorry for the rant, but I feel like x-mas came a little early on Saturday after watching Maidana make Broner look like he was on a bad episode of Dancing with the Stars a couple of times. Late!!! – Juan ‘West Coast’ Alvarado AKA ‘Johnny Sunday’ AKA ‘Lieutenant Diaz’

Manny boxing fans and members of the media feel like they were treated to an early Christmas gift with Saturday’s fight. For starters, it was an entertaining and dramatic welterweight bout, perhaps a fight of the year candidate. It was definitely an upset-of-the-year candidate, and the boxing world is always ignited when a likeable underdog upsets the odds. But the main reason is that Broner often acts like a douche bag. There’s really no other way to put it.

Maidana is what some fans like to call a “truth machine;” his dangerous power, relentless style and uncanny resilience either brings out the best or the worst of his opponents. Maidana “exposed” (every hardcore boxing fan’s favorite word) the good and bad in Broner’s character.

We saw that the wannabe superstar is able and willing to fight through adversity, but we also saw that he will try to look for a timeout or escape route when badly hurt and discouraged (as witnessed during his eighth-round theatrics following is second knockdown and Maidana’s headbutt). We also saw that he isn’t willing to face the music during post-fight interviews when things don’t go his way. (There was no post-fight press conference following the card, either.)

You weren’t alone in thinking that Maidana was made to order for Broner (although most of the boxing media figured he would win by decision, not stoppage). You make a good point that Maidana was not considered a top welterweight contender going into the fight. However, neither was Broner, who was outside the of the top-five welterweight rankings of most boxing publications/writers (including THE RING, which had him at No. 6).

He’s going to drop to the bottom of THE RING’s 147-pound top 10 and (hopefully) out of the magazine’s Pound-for-Pound ratings.

SMELLING SALTS

In between rounds 11 and 12, Alex Ariza has Maidana breathe into a napkin and tells him in Spanish to “breathe it in.” Now, if that was some kind of substance to keep get Maidana awake or more alert, that is illegal. My question is whether or not that will show up in the post fight test, urine sample. – Tyler

I’d like to think it would show up on a post-fight drug test if Maidana indeed inhaled some kind of banned stimulant or performing-enhancing substance, but I’m not terribly confident in the Texas boxing commission. Remember when the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulation (which oversees boxing) “forgot” to book an anti-drug testing lab to handle urine samples from the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Marco Antonio Rubio/Nonito Donaire-Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. doubleheader (which also took place at the Alamodome in San Antonio) last February? ‘Nuff said.

I’ve seen some of the videos showing Ariza putting the little napkin squares over Maidana’s nose, but since I can’t hear (or understand) what he’s saying, I don’t want to jump to any incriminating conclusions. If he is indeed saying “breathe it in” as opposed to “blow it out,” I think the footage merits investigation by the commission, the sanctioning organization (WBA) and the promotional company (Golden Boy Promotions).

Smelling salts and similar inhalable stimulants, which were once common in boxing (many decades ago), are indeed illegal in every U.S. jurisdiction. The last time I heard of a fighter getting caught for using them was Tito Mendoza during his 12-round decision lost to a then-up-and-coming Librado Andrade nine years ago in Orange County, California. The California commission (and HBO Latino’s cameras) caught Mendoza’s corner using ammonia caplets to revive the Panamanian fringe contender between rounds after each of the three knockdowns he suffered during the fight. Mendoza was fined and suspended by the CSAC.

If Maidana were to test positive for a similar substance his victory over Broner would be changed to a No Contest.

Here’s the big question that I have regarding this potential (and certainly not proven) controversy: I know Ariza is a hot head and an egomaniac, but is he THAT f___ing crazy to administer banned substance to a fighter just days after Brandon Rios, who he worked with prior to the Manny Pacquiao fight, failed a post-fight drug test?

ALEX ARIZA AND ADRIEN BRONER

Doug,

I would like to hear your commentary on a couple of issues. First, with regard to Alex Ariza, how long do you think Robert Garcia will keep Alex Ariza around his gym? Personally, I believe he is bringing negative publicity to a camp of fighters and a trainer that have been on quite a roll lately.

The incident with Freddie Roach was ugly and reflected poorly on both Roach and Ariza. However, the positive test for Brandon Rios after the Manny Pacquiao fight, I believe, reflects negatively on Garcia and Ariza, and not so much on Rios, because I think Rios blindly drank and ate what Ariza put in front of him.

I don’t know if Maidana and Broner agreed to the same kind of testing as Pacquiao and Rios, but if they did, and Maidana comes up positive, I think Garcia will need to dismiss him from his camp or face severe condemnation from the boxing community. It is one thing to test positive in defeat, but if Maidana’s spectacular victory is diminished by a positive test, then Garcia needs to protect his fighters and cut ties with Ariza.

Secondly, with regard to Broner, do you think Broner will change his style after his defeat? I could not help but think that he would have won this fight easily if he would have fought like Keith Thurman fought Jesus Soto Karass. I thought Thurman fought brilliantly by moving and striking. Broner, on the other hand, pressured Maidana for most of the fight, only moving when he was in trouble, and he could not maintain proper distance, often resorting to pushing, which came close to getting him penalized. – Robert

I don’t think Broner will change his style following his first loss. It works well against most opponents. He just needed to have more respect for Maidana and better focus once the fight started. He needed to work his jab from the onset, and he needed to avoid exchanges until Maidana’s usual mid-fight fatigue set in.

Broner was caught early in the fight because he was unfocused and unconcerned and he had a hard time getting back into the fight after having his bell rung.

I thought Broner had most of his success when he pressured Maidana. I scored rounds four, five, six and seven for Broner during the international broadcast of the fight (though I acknowledged that rounds four and five were very close). I thought he beat Maidana to the punch during those rounds and minimized Maidana’s contact.

Maidana might simply have a style that will always trouble Broner, regardless of the kind of style he tries to employ. Maidana, with his smart aggression and wild powerful volleys, might be the Ricardo Mayorga to Broner’s Vernon Forrest.

Regarding Ariza, I would certainly hope that Garcia cuts him loose if Maidana comes up dirty. Robert and his father Eduardo know how to condition fighters, and they have other people in their camp who can expertly attend to nutrition and strength work. I don’t think they need Ariza to be a successful boxing team, and they certainly don’t need the drama that the hot-headed conditioning coach is often brings.

However, I don’t want to assume that Ariza has done anything wrong with Maidana (or even with Rios) until we have more information about the situation(s) and hear from everyone involved.

Broner and Maidana did not undergo the same drug testing that Pacquiao and Rios did. The Pacquiao-Rios drug testing was handled by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), which has higher standards than the state boxing commissions. As far as I know, Broner and Maidana were only tested by the Texas boxing commission. 

MARCOS “THE SERVER” MAIDANA

What’s up Dougie,

Marcos “Chino” Maidana should be tipped fat because he served Adrian Broner a nice helping of humble pie! By the way he stormed out after the fight I don’t think Broner digested it that well. I was with the minority who thought Maidana would beat Broner. Yeah, he lost to a faded Erik Morales, but Morales fought the fight of his life and showed mad skills, and he was out boxed by Amir Khan, who held on for dear life at the end. Both of those guys are better boxers than Broner. I thought that Maidana would do what he did and adjust to Broner’s cheap version of Floyd Meayweather’s style, and I loved it! I wish more ref’s would call out Mayweather for pushing, using the forearm, etc., the way this ref did to “The Problem.” 

Now, what’s next for “Chino”? Did he just thrust himself into the Mayweather sweepstakes? I think he did, and deservedly so, he whooped Victor Ortiz without having to cheap shot him, had Khan reeling, and is just fun to watch! Will he win? Probably not, but I’d rather see him in there with the Pretty Boy than freakin’ Khan. Give Marcos “The Server” Maidana a Money shot!!! What do you think, Dougie? – Miguel, LBC

I think most U.S. fans would rather see Mayweather face a relentless bomber coming off the biggest victory of his career than a chinny British star who struggled against a faded veteran in his last fight and hasn’t regained his career momentum since getting stopped by Danny Garcia.

So, yeah, obviously Mayweather-Maidana is a more marketable pay-per-view event than Mayweather-Khan, as I told my buddy Elie Seckbach at San Antonio’s airport the morning after Maidana’s upset. Showtime and Golden Boy Promotions can hype the fight this way: Maidana showed that he had the solution to “The Problem,” can he solve the Mayweather enigma? (Or some corny s__t like that.)

If Mayweather was willing to fight Khan in Britain I might lean towards that fight, but I don’t think Floyd’s ready to leave the good ole U.S. of A yet.

I liked that referee Laurence Cole warned Broner about the forearms to the neck and for pushing and shoving, but he never penalized the Poor-Man’s Mayweather for those infractions. And he could have docked Broner a point for that left hook he landed after the bell ended the 11^th round, but he didn’t.

By the way, Maidana won the Morales fight (at least on the official scorecards, but I agree that it was El Terrible’s last great performance). He came close to stopping Khan late in their fight (and probably would have if Joe Cortez wasn’t the referee) and only narrowly lost on the scorecards.

I think you can make a strong argument that Morales has better all around technique and ring smarts than Broner and that Khan is a more difficult boxer to overcome due to his constant lateral movement and busy jab.

I took the Morales and Khan fights into consideration when analyzing Broner-Maidana, but I couldn’t get the fact that both Jesus Soto Karass and Josesito Lopez had strong moments against “Chino.”

I figured Broner could better capitalize on Maidana’s flaws than Soto Karass and Lopez. I think he did to an extent, but not nearly enough.

SCHOOL-YARD BULLY GETS HIS

Doug,

Shows how much I know. (I know that you are going to get a lot of mail so I’m going to keep it as brief as possible). I thought “All Boy” was going to be focused for his affair with El Chino. Maybe he was but instead we got a lot more talk before the fight and not enough walk during from El Porno. (Unless you count that quick walk he made out of the ring after the punking). Maidana proved that the young buck wasn’t, and may never be, ready for Showtime (literally). Either “Amateur Boy” didn’t realize that he was facing a strong WW with the hardest punch south of 160, or he has been stuck in a time capsule from his amateur days where he could get away with no head movement while standing right in front of this maniacal head hunter (no porno reference intended).

“Amateur Bully” talked big before the fight, abused smaller fighters on the way up, and thought he was the next big star in boxing. He better be concerned about just being a proficient professional boxer. Where was the head movement? Where was the lateral movement? Where were the adjustments throughout the fight? WTF was his corner doing? That was amateur hour if I have ever seen it from the self proclaimed “Next Star”. I know that he is 24 and a 3-time WC at lower weights, but being put on your arse in round 2 and then from the same left hook in 8 against Maidana (no offense) shows that you are at best in the lower part of the 2^nd tier of WW. Nothing against Maidana, but he wasn’t supposed to beat down Broner. These types of whoppings only happen at the end of someone’s career, or when one fighter has no place being in the same ring as the other. Broner was too skilled, too fast, to everything, we thought. Chino took it to him from the opening round, and besides some fight back in the middle rounds where he pushed forward and made MM fight backing up with some success, young bully got the brakes beat off him. Look at the punch count, especially the power shots.

Broner needs to get back to the basics and focus on proper boxing technique in order to play at the top of the food chain. That requires the dedication of a professional, and he hasn’t demonstrated it to date and paid dearly for it. Paulie Walnuts said that Broner has a hard time going from offense to defense which to me is a lack of proper training or he isn’t capable and is a one dimensional stalker. I’m not sure but it may be both. I think that we see that he has one way of fighting you and if you handle that you handle Broner. That worked at lower weights, but not at WW. MM is no pushover, but losing to Glass Chin Khan, Average Alexander (in 10), and Andreas Kotelnik, isn’t exactly murders row. Before this fight, I had him as a 2^nd tier WW. Maybe Garcia is the difference. Whatever it is, as long as someone stays in front of him, the Broner result will happen to all of MM’s opponents.

So what happens to Broner? My guess is, like most bullies, he won’t fully recover and will only be a shell of his stand in front, come forward, no adjustment self. That type of beating has never happened to him before on that stage. No one ever neutralized what he could do in the ring before, and when it happened he couldn’t adjust. I credit him for staying with it and taking those shots (besides attempting to milk the head but for a MM DQ to get out), but the beating may have ruined him mentally. He was exposed, period. It all came crashing down and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. After the first knockdown, you go in to grab around his thighs? That’s the defense? Again, I know he is 24, but the defensive style that he has employed thru his career is almost impossible to master without proper discipline and respect for the craft, and it is never the only way you defend. It’s hard to teach an old young head new tricks and in his case it may be impossible. If there was any time for him to be humble and be teachable, this is it, although I’m not sure if this was enough. He may have to experience another one of these beatings to get it through. As I have said before, he is really a 140 ponder, but will he discipline himself to campaign there for the foreseeable future? Will he get a capable corner? I for one hope that the Floyd comparisons stop and he decides to dedicate himself to his career or this will keep happening to him when stepping up to the better competition. – Wiley

Damn, Wiley, you call that keeping “it as brief as possible?” LOL. That was a full column on Adrien Broner’s downfall, my brother, but it made many well-stated points so I had no problem posting it.

You ask a lot of good questions, most of which Broner will have to answer next year.

I think he has a capable corner (or at least a capable head trainer in Mike Stafford). I just think Stafford was guilty of overlooking Maidana, as many of us were. Reading this interview Stafford did with RingTV.com’s own Lem Satterfield a few days before the fight tells me that he underestimated Maidana and overestimated his fighter.

I think Broner should have been able to outbox Maidana but he didn’t set out to do that. He believed his own pre-fight hype about “f___ing up,” knocking out and “flat-lining” the hardnosed Argentine veteran. He thought he could intimidate Maidana with his reputation, his words and his disrespectful antics (just look at the way he kept trying to get in the challenger’s face after entering the ring prior to the fighter introductions; and the “dry-hump” move he pulled at the end of the first round).

He was wrong, and he paid dearly for that overconfidence.

In some ways Broner-Maidana reminded me of Tim Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov where a heavily favored undefeated American boxer thought he could blitz an underrated foreign-born puncher/slugger and almost got KTFO in the opening rounds because of that lack of respect.

Bradley had the experience to pull a victory out of a near disastrous start to a grueling distance fight. Broner did not.

However, Bradley proved that he could return to his boxing style and stick to a smart gameplan in his very next bout against Juan Manuel Marquez. Maybe Broner will prove that he can do the same. That’s what an elite fighter does.

If Broner can’t do it then he isn’t “elite” and he never was.

WEIRD, I ACTUALLY FEEL SORRY FOR BRONER

At the beginning of the fight I had a strong dislike for Broner for all his dirty antics but by the end I felt respect and bad for him. Broner showed so much heart but Maidana was possessed tonight. This fight reminded me of Mayorga vs Forrest and Floyd vs Augustus because all that technical defense can sometimes be thrown out the window when you get in the ring with wild punchers like Mayorga and Maidana. My three questions are: 

1.  Is Broner too small for Welterweight or was he just a tad bit over rated?

2.  How would Broner do vs Jr. Welterweights?  Where does he go from here?

3.  Does Maidana have a shot to beat Mayweather? 

Over the last two years I have been emailing you at [email protected] and never received a response, I guess I never got the memo. – Joseph Negron, Woodbridge, VA

I still get some of my mailbag emails from my Yahoo! email account, but in recent years most of them have come from my RingTV.com account, [email protected], which I’ve been posting at the bottom of my mailbag columns. However, I finally have a new email account that is totally dedicated to the mailbag, [email protected]. Please use this one going forward and I’ll do my best to include your emails in the column.

Good call on the similarities between Broner-Maidana and Forrest-Mayorga (and Mayweather-Augustus). Wild (but ring wise) sluggers and unorthodox boxer can often trouble better talented orthodox boxers (especially when they don’t have the proper respect for their underdog opponents).

I’ll answer your questions in order:

1) Broner’s not too small for welterweight if he tries to win fights with his speed and boxing ability. If he thinks he can overpower or overwhelm his opponents at welterweight, he’s in the wrong the division. Broner was a little bit overrated at welterweight (THE RING rated him No. 6 and ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael had him at No. 4) going into the Maidana fight. Broner was very overrated by THE RING’s Ratings Chairman Chuck Giampa, who had him as high as No. 5 in the magazine’s Pound for Pound rankings.

2) Broner would have a little more pop in shots and maybe better reflexes at 140 pounds but he would still need to carry a lot of respect into the ring against the likes of RING champ Danny Garica, Lucas Matthysse and Amir Khan. He should stay as far away from Ruslan Provodnikov as he can. Junior welterweight won’t be any easier on Broner. My guess is that he remains at 147 pounds and pushes for an eventual rematch with Maidana.

3) I don’t think so.

I think it’s speaks well of you that you felt some compassion for Broner. Most fans are reveling in pissing on the arrogant pup while he tries to lick the wounds of his first loss. I think a lot of folks are overlooking that Broner took a sick amount of physical punishment on Saturday. I think he’s young enough to bounce back from the severe beating but I could be wrong. His career trajectory could have been cut short as Fernando Vargas’ was following his loss to Felix Trinidad. Or he could be one more beatdown removed from being declared “shot” as Juan Manuel Lopez was after his second stoppage loss to Orlando Salido.

Boxers put a lot on the line to entertain us. They all deserve our compassion, even the a__holes.

SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

Dear Doug:

The four-bout card on Showtime this weekend was one of the most balanced and entertaining cards I can ever recall watching.  Every match was better than the previous one. Even the Beibut Shumenov-Tamas Kovacs opener was fun. Leo Santa Cruz had yet another great fight; I was very impressed with Cesar Seda for hanging in there with him punch for punch [practically] for twelve rounds. The Thurman-Soto Karass bout was nine rounds of nasty clubbing; those guys were out to hurt each other and clearly did. And Maidana-Broner was a nail-biting fight that finally got a decent decision out of Texas judges. 

Admittedly I went into the fight as a Broner-hater – I can’t stand the loudmouthed, classless asshat and want someone to put him on the floor every time out [except Malinaggi, who can’t drop an 80 year old cripple with his powder puffs; I just hoped he’d get by on points] but I figured Maidana for another carefully matched opponent on the way to a Mayweather-like groomed record of hollow perfection.  When Maidana came out like a tornado and knocked Broner on his skirt-wearing ass in the 2nd but was unable to take him out then or in the 8th, I was thrilled – I guess the answer to the shoulder roll is to hit him with everything but the kitchen sink everywhere else – but also more than a bit concerned that we were in for another questionable Texas decision, especially as I watched Broner’s blatant cheating moves and the ref’s non-response to them. How many times does that guy get to rip the laces of his gloves across an opponent’s face, hit him with elbows and forearm shivs, push him off and otherwise make it an MMA match before he loses a point? Broner must have been warned half a dozen times with no penalty, but that same referee nails Maidana for a half-assed head butt – who butts with the back of the head – that he only threw because Broner had him in an endless reverse full nelson that the ref refused to break up? Puh-leese. 

I wasn’t all that surprised that Broner bolted from the ring afterwards faster than the French army fleeing a German soldier, though it was his fastest movement of the night, because although he has great tools and talent, he has zero maturity, professionalism or class. If he’d moved half as fast in the ring as running out of it he’d still have a strap. He still has a long way to go to make it to the top ranks of the welterweights. Frankly, I don’t think he is ever going to get there because I think he is still growing physically – he looked huge compared to Maidana and seemed to run out of gas in the final rounds again – and will eventually be a 154# or even 160# fighter. Where do you think Broner goes now? 

All that said, kudos to Maidana. That man is a transformed fighter under Robert Garcia’s tutelage. I used to know exactly what to expect with Maidana: Frankenstein plodding movement more or less straight ahead with thudding punches that would cut down most any undersized or less talented fighter but a 50:50 proposition against a top fighter. Either blast the guy out or get boxed to death. But there were points last night where I was pleasantly surprised at his defense. Maidana was slipping and ducking Broner’s punches quite well, using a defensive jab, and tying up Broner effectively. How would you assess his chances against the rest of the top welters? Sincerely. – Adam Warshaw, Beautiful Downtown Burbank

I wouldn’t favor Maidana at all against Mayweather. I would slightly favor Tim Bradley over Chino, and I think Devon Alexander might always give him fits (particularly if their fight is officiated by a referee who allows a lot of grappling), but I’d make the Robert Garcia-trained version of Maidana even money with the other top-10 welterweights: Shawn Porter, Juan Manuel Marquez, Malignaggi, Kell Brook and Robert Guerrero.

The welterweight standout I’d like to see Maidana fight is Thurman. Now that’s a f___ing fight! I’ll go with my fellow longhaired Halfrican brotha in that macho matchup. Unlike Broner, the Thurmanator has the size and power to match Chino, but he’s also proven the ability to think and make adjustments against hard-charing opponents. Apart from his wobbly moment early in the opening round, I thought boxed the perfect fight against Soto Karass on Saturday. He worked his jab and punched on the fly on all night but still did a frightening amount of damage with his shots.

I also think Broner is marketable option for Maidana. The first fight will sell the rematch and I think Broner will stay at 147 pounds. (Making 135 pounds will kill him after walking around at 170-180 for the past year; and the 140-pound division is more dangerous than the welterweight division.)

Golden Boy Promotions and Showtime can stage an epic 147-pound round robin with Maidana, Broner, Malignaggi, Porter, Alexander, Thurman, Guerrero and Danny Garcia (when the reigning junior welter champ decides to move up to welterweight, which will be soon).

I think we will see a lot of those matchups in 2014, but I can’t think about that right now. I’m still recovering from this terrific weekend in San Antonio and the incredibly busy year of 2013. I think the “Danger Zone” card and the Maidana-Broner upset was the perfect note to end the year on.

Photos / Ronald Martinez-Getty Images

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dougiefischer