Saturday, October 3, at the US Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, WBA #2 ranked Adrien Broner (30-2, 22 KOs), fighting out of Cincinnati, looks to win a title in a fourth weight division as he goes up against former WBA champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs), the #5 ranked southpaw from Derbent, Russia, for the WBA World light welterweight title vacated by Jessie Vargas.
Coming off a loss at welterweight to Shawn Porter in his last fight, Broner looks to bounce back with a title shot. Known for his antics and claim that he’s the next Floyd Mayweather, even going so far as to name himself “About Billions,” Broner’s strength is his inside game, which he displayed in the 12th and final round of his fight against Porter by knocking him down with a very well placed left hook to the head. Though that was not the story of the fight as he clinched and moved through most of the rounds, it is certainly the style of fighting he is looking to return to against Allakhverdiev.
Khabib first won the WBA World light welterweight title by technical decision over then unbeaten Joan Guzman in a very physical fight that took place in Sunrise, Florida, in 2012. He defended his title just once before losing it controversially to Jessie Vargas, where many saw Allakhverdiev the victor. Since then, he has been training and perfecting his craft since that loss to come back and fight for the title again. Now he is being trained in Moscow by four division champion Roy Jones Jr. who saw some holes in his defense and ring generalship and which should be much improved Saturday night.
Both fighters bring a physical style that should result in good, but most importantly, competitive action. But you can never count out Broner’s ability to show off slick defense as he often did when he reigned in the lower weight classes before moving up to welterweight, which could be the difference in this fight.
The light welterweight division has lot of depth, despite the departure of Danny Garcia. The winner of this fight could go on to fight some of the top dogs in the division like Lucas Matthysse, Terence Crawford, Amir Imam and Viktor Postol.
Adrien Broner vs. Khabib Allakhverdiev will be televised live on Showtime Championship Boxing starting at 10 PM ET/ 7 PM PT.
This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.
