The 2013 Maidana vs. Broner fight was interesting, as much for the fight itself as for everything surrounding it. When I look at it now, I think that examining the out-of-ring performance, title fight selection, and overall career trajectory could teach us quite a bit. In this retrospective, I'll try to explain that side of the fight with reference to the surrounding news articles, interviews given by both fighters, and the long-term effects it had on each.

So coming in, you have Marcos Maidana, a heavy-handed semi-brawler who, coming off of a loss to Khan, was taking it out on welterweights by knocking out Soto Karass and Josesito Lopez. To appreciate his position, remember that back then Josesito was more of a big deal than he is now, his losses were a fluke SD to Vargas and a gory beating from Canelo (three knockdowns in three consecutive rounds!), although cracks were definitely showing and Maidana was favored, Lopez was considered top tier talent at that point. In the other corner is Adrien “The Problem” Broner. Broner, undefeated at 27-0, had recently handed an L to Paul “How the hell do you spell my last name” Malignaggi, whose losses column at that point looked like a partial approximation of “who's good and weighs like 140”: Khan, Hatton, Diaz, and Cotto. Broner, in moving up out of lighter divisions, had experienced a substantial relative decrease in power: while he had knockout after knockout at lightweight and super featherweight, his victory over Malignaggi was a troubling SD. Malignaggi, in a “master class in macho posturing,” just gave an exaggerated shrug after getting hit with Broner's serious shots, instead of going down like everyone else had previously seemed to.

It practically sold itself. Maidana vs. Broner had the out-of-ring kabuki that only a Mayweather protegee like Broner could bring. On top of that, it had an addictive, weirdly confused face/heel dynamic; Maidana looks like Lesnar in the ring, a hundred forty irritable, crappy-tattooed pounds of wild hooks, elbows, and swarming aggression, but during prefight interviews he had the Golovkinesque gentility of someone who doesn't speak a lot of English, but wishes to be liked. Broner, all speed and accuracy, who sees a knockout not a product of an attack, but as an opportunity that his opponent presents him, got on Youtube and flushed a bunch of money down a hotel toilet, claiming to be “pooping crisp twenty-dollar bills.” Later, in prefight interviews, Broner maintained that he “can't talk shit to somebody who don't speak English,” perhaps understanding the way in which his 3-1 favored position allowed him to demean by inflicting mercy.

And, oh man, was the fight entertaining. From the very first round Maidana went off, throwing everything: jabs to the body, lead hooks, bolo punches. When Broner ducked down for any reason, he would leap up with the most overhand of overhand rights, leaning comically far back and then coming down on Broner's head like he was swinging a sledgehammer, trying to hold him in place with his left. I won't say he was trying to rabbit punch Broner, but there wasn't any real effort to avoid it. If Broner tied up anything short of both hands, he would swing over and over again with the other one, sometimes to the kidneys, sometimes right past Broner's face with a plausibly-deniable elbow, and sometimes to the ribs. When his jab to the body started getting blocked, he would throw a left hook that started out out exactly like it, knocking Broner down in rounds 2 and 8 for the first and second times of his career. Broner, for his part, kept as evasive (and abrasive) as billed. There's a point where, leaning back on the ropes, he blocks or slips Maidana's entire flurry and then returns a fast, clean hook-uppercut-hook combination to the head that's just difficult to see. There's a point where throws a straight right that staggers Maidana, not as a counter to a sloppy left as expected, but just apropos of nothing at all because he's so fast. And strangely but somehow in character, there's a point where he simulates sodomizing a turned-around Maidana. (Maidana returned the favor in round 11, after abusing Broner for most of the fight)

I think they both acquitted themselves really well, especially Broner. He absorbed a ton of punishment and still managed to keep his head. After that first knockdown, if you watch it on open access, there's footage of him telling his corner to calm down(!), and that he's still in the fight. He starts to open up later on in terms of punching, and in my opinion wins the last couple rounds. It was impressive how he managed to continuously accelerate and adapt even when his plan had completely failed, and he was already exhausted and banged up. If this were 1981 and they fought for 15 rounds instead, I actually have no idea what the result would have been.

Afterwards, though, the fight seemed to have turned sour for both of them. This victory allowed Maidana to challenge Mayweather to a title fight, which he lost in an exceedingly close decision, called in the rematch clause, and then lost again. Then, having made at least $4.5 million over the course of six months, he understandably took a vacation with his family which turned into a year's hiatus. He'll probably fight again in 2016, but he'll definitely have a lot of catching up to do, and he may come back to a heavier division where his strength is more commonplace, and his chin is immediately suspect. It's a toss-up as to whether or not Maidana will ever again fight at the level he did when he faced Mayweather, although he went out for the right reasons it's still a long break that came on the heels of two consecutive losses. Broner went on to another two wins against decent opposition, and then lost terribly to Shawn Porter, seeming timid even during his round 12 knockdown. A fantastic article compares Broner to Hector Camacho, a similarly flashy fighter whose decision victory over Edwin Rosario left him bleeding, bruised, and declawed in a way, adapting a less risky hit-and-hold style for the rest of his career. In his upcoming fights, Broner will have to show either that he's not afraid of a war, or that his technique and talent truly does make him Mayweather's little brother. I'm not sure if, when I watched it the first time, I could have anticipated the stakes being so high for either of them.

Image Credit: Nahuel Manocchio (via Wikimedia Commons)