After failing to make the 130lb weight limit for the second defence of his WBO super featherweight title, Adrien Broner decided to move up a division.
Broner showed his skills with precision punching, hooks, uppercuts, body shots and straight left jabs. He had great defences, amazing hand speed and can fight in close or on the outside. I think he will be boxing's next big star.
Unification
On the same night, but on a different card in California, the first unification fight in the flyweight division in a long time took place. Brian Viloria, who had the WBO belt, took on Tyson Marquez, who held the WBA.
Viloria had been a WBC and IBF belt holder and had come back well since his last round KO loss to Carlos Tamara in January 2010. He had moved up in weight from light flyweight to flyweight and won five straight as well as a world title.
Marquez had more or less been a flyweight throughout his career, then moved up and got knocked out by Nonito Donaire in July 2010 in the eighth round. That was his second loss in a row but has since come back with seven wins adding the WBA world belt to his waist as well.
This was the third defence for both Marquez and Viloria. The Hawaiian Punch, Viloria, didn't disappoint as he scored a 10th round TKO. After dropping Marquez in the first round he took control early. Marquez fought back gamely in the fifth but Viloria had him down again that round although Marquez had been having a good round up to that point.
Marquez stayed aggressive in the next few rounds but got dropped again in the 10th from a left hook to the head and his corner threw in the towel to save him from any more punishment. It was a big win for Brian Viloria as he added the WBA strap to his current WBO belt.
