BREAK IT DOWN WITH CHRIS HENDERSON: PACQUIAO-BRONER
April 25, 2024
Chris Henderson
At first glance this fight screams mismatch. In one corner stands an 8-division world champion in Manny Pacquiao and in the other corner stands the resident class clown of boxing, Adrien Broner. But, if you look a little deeper the 8-division champ just turned 40 and the class clown is a 4-division champion himself that’s in his physical prime at 29-years-old.
The “Problem”, pun intended, is that the 29-year-old seems to have forgotten that in order to win a fight it’s kinda important for him to let his hands go and against a guy like Pacquiao it’s absolutely mandatory. A key factor here will be the distance in which the action takes place. Broner is at his best when he’s able to get off combinations at mid-range. The problem will be getting there because Pacquiao will use his legs to dart in and out at angles while throwing a variation of leads with the jab along with some lead right hooks and straight lefts. If Broner isn’t able to effectively time Pacquiao and land something to make the Filipino hesitant then he’ll be in for a long night.
Fighter’s are like anyone else in that they have habits and Broner has a habit of “shelling up” when his opponent throws more than one punch at a time. This habit is what I believe will be his undoing and the reason I’m picking Pacquiao to win a unanimous decision and possibly become the first man to stop Broner late in the fight.
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
Funny and spot on, I love Chris’s writing.
We are happy to have him as a contributor!
Great write-up and I’m looking forward to this bout! Lopez is a dangerous opponent and I’m sure Thurman is very aware.