According to Dan Rafael of espn.com. WBC Lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco will defend his crown against undefeated former Jr. Lightweight champion Adrien Broner on November 17th at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantc City.
“We have a lot of respect for Broner and his skills,” said DeMarci’s promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com on Monday. “Broner will have his work cut out for him against DeMarco. He better take Tony seriously and train hard. DeMarco has already been in training for two weeks. He knows it’s a difficult fight. But he wanted to fight Broner so he is excited to get the opportunity.
“Antonio is a very sharp puncher. Although he’s a slow starter, other than his last fight, he doesn’t punch wide. I don’t know if Broner has ever been in with a guy who throws straight punches and reaches his mark the way Antonio does.”
“I knew who I wanted to fight, DeMarco, and I got it and I am happy,” Broner told ESPN.com just before beginning a Monday afternoon training session. “You got a lot of people out there asking, ‘Is Adrien Broner really the next big star in boxing?’ I know I am. I wanted to come straight to 135 pounds and fight the best. DeMarco is the champ and that’s who we are fighting.
“I’m very blessed and I’m very happy. I’m not going to take him lightly. He’s a good fighter, a world class fighter and he deserves to be champion. He is not world champion for nothing, but I have the talent to do what I want to do. On Nov. 17, everyone will know why I’m ‘The Problem.’ Everybody has their time and it’s Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner’s time.”
“I think this is the biggest fight of Broner’s career, but it’s not the biggest fight of DeMarco’s career,” Shaw said. “Antonio has been in with (Edwin) Valero (a ninth-round knockout loss in a 2010 lightweight title fight) and with Linares, so he’s been in the big stage before. But this is absolutely the biggest fight of Broner’s career. But I think it’s a terrific fight.
“If Broner can do away with DeMarco quickly, he can come out of the fight a huge star because I think everybody has a lot of respect for DeMarco and the kind of fighter he is. If they have a real war and it’s close, maybe a little luster comes off of Broner, but nobody questions how good Broner is, certainly not me or DeMarco. But this may be a case of Broner being rushed. It’s on neutral territory, which is good. If DeMarco hurts him he will finish him because he is a great finisher.”
“The weight is not a problem,” Broner said. “I know the weight thing is a big deal because of what happened and people wonder if I can make the weight. But I just grew out of (junior lightweight). I guarantee you I will be 135 pounds or less for this fight. Making this weight is not going to be a problem.
“I am very happy that I can go up to the next weight class and that I don’t have to wait and sit, that I automatically got a shot at the title in my first fight in the weight class. So I am training hard and I will put on a great show.”
In the co-feature, Brandywine, Md., heavyweight Seth Mitchell (25-0-1, 19 KOs), 30, will face Johnathon Banks (28-1-1, 18 KOs), also 30, of Detroit in a bout that was originally scheduled for the July 14 Danny Garcia-Amir Khan undercard in Las Vegas. However, Mitchell suffered an injury to a knuckle on his right hand and the bout was postponed.
“He’s fine, he’s sparring and he looks good,” said Mitchell’s manager Sharif Salim. “He never really left the gym. He wasn’t using his right hand, but he was using his left hand. The doctor told him to rest the right hand and that’s what he did. Everything is working now but his left hook is even crisper because we went through a lot of drills just working on his left hand while the right was healing.”