His sparkly gold trunks were as gaudy as a matador’s getup, and that’s pretty much how Adrien Broner carried himself Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as he attempted to dodge the raging bull that was Shawn Porter.
Broner vs Porter, Spence vs Lo Greco highlights: June 20, 2015
It didn’t work: Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) barreled his way to a victory by unanimous decision by bulldozing through Broner (30-2, 22 KOs).
Shawn Porter dictated the pace early, lunging at Adrien Broner—actually leaving his feet while doing so at one point in the first round—bullying Broner into the ropes and hammering him with rib-softening body blows.
But by the middle of Round 2, Broner began to get his timing down on Porter’s come-forward attack, countering hard, landing a snapping right hand in the middle of the round followed by a crisp shortly thereafter.
Still, it was Porter who continually pressed the action, as Broner seemed content to let Porter initiate his offense and then counter.
Broner was the more accurate puncher, but Porter compensated with volume, throwing and landing far more shots.
Neither fighter, though, could find much of an offensive rhythm.
There was a lot of grappling throughout the fight, with Broner in particular resorting to wrapping Porter up in an attempt to smother his attacks, sneaking in forearms shivers and hitting behind the head from time to time while they clinched.
It eventually cost Broner when referee Tony Weeks docked him a point in Round 11 after repeated warnings.
Still Broner had his moments, showing flashes of his blinding hand-and-foot speed and excellent lateral moment.
He got off to a strong start in Round 6, landing a sweat-spraying left hand and then another hard shot shortly thereafter as he went on the attack for a change.
But then Broner squandered his momentum by letting up on the gas and allowing Porter to again dictate the pace.
This is how it went for Broner throughout the night, as he’d show glimpses of brilliance but fail to sustain anything.
In Round 10, Porter seemed to slam the door shut on a Broner victory, outworking him by wide margin, but Broner dropped Porter in Round 12 with a thundering straight left hand.
Broner landed hard shots throughout the rest of the round, hinting at what could have been had he engaged his offense more consistently throughout the fight.
It wasn’t enough to pull out the victory, though, as Porter won a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards (114-112, 115-111 and 118-108).
“This fight played pretty much out how we thought it would,” Porter said afterward. “There were a few points where he ran. We actually wanted to fight a more subtle fight, a more calm and intelligent fight so that he wouldn’t run the way he ran a few times.”
Clearly, Broner’s plan was to counter Porter’s charge, but Porter was able to get low and minimize Broner’s sporadic offense.
“I wasn’t having it,” Porter said. “That’s my thing: I don’t like for anyone to get comfortable, I don’t like people to do what they like to do.”
In the end, Broner’s failure to adapt his game cost him the fight.
“This is boxing, you have to adjust,” Porter said. “If you’re not confident in your adjustments, this is what you get.”
See full fight coverage of Broner vs Porter.
Shawn Porter proved to be too powerful for Adrien Broner to handle Saturday night in Las Vegas.
