Adrien Broner TKO?d tough but outclassed Khabib Allakhverdiev to win the vacant WBA World super lightweight title?
Saturday night at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, Adrien ?The Problem? Broner (31-2, 23 KOs), the mercurial gladiator fighting out of Cincinnati, TKO?d tough but outclassed Khabib ?The Hawk? Allakhverdiev (19-2, 9 KOs), from Derbent, Russia, at 2:23 of the 12th and final round to win the vacant WBA World super lightweight title.
The scores at the time of the stoppage were 110-99, 109-100, and 107-102. It was Broner?s fourth title in as many divisions and he fought like the Broner of old.
But those who expected an altogether ?new? Adrien Broner might have been disappointed. Just as he fought like the Broner of old, his ring walk was like the Broner of old. Wearing sunglasses and sporting a hipster beard, Broner chewed gum while dancing to the rhymes of his own private rapper. And his ring robe didn?t have the words ABOUT BUSINESS or ABOUT BOXING emblazoned amongst the sequins. The words were ABOUT BILLIONS, which we were led to believe were a thing of the past.
Fighting out of the blue corner in black and orange trunks, 26-year-old Broner wasted no time in establishing his superiority. His speed and athleticism made his opponent look like a plodder who hadn?t fought in 18 months.
Allakhverdiev, fighting out of the red corner in white trunks, is a former titleholder, but he was no match for the new champion, neither offensively, defensively, or psychologically.
Broner had Khabib?s number and treated his face like it was a dartboard.
The Cincinnati Kid redeemed himself tonight, at least in the ring. He avoided the ropes for the most part. (His cornerman told him at the end of round two, ?Stay off the damn ropes!?) He didn?t get in a firefight. He used his jab, lead right, and uppercut to diminish Allakhverdiev at the same time as he rearranged his features.
The few times the Russian made a move, his lack of power proved a detriment. Broner shook off his punches the way a dog shakes off fleas and kept the action in the middle of the ring where Khabib couldn?t hope to compete.
To call the fight one-sided is an understatement. It wasn?t that Allakhverdiev was bad, per se. It was that Broner was superb, albeit against a man who will never be mistaken for an A-list fighter.
By the time the championship rounds rolled around it was obvious that Broner was cruising to an easy decision. But Khabib was taking an awful whooping and stopping it made more sense than letting it continue.
Between rounds 11 and 12 the referee, Harvey Dock Jr., told his corner, ?Last round. If he gets in trouble again like that, I?m going to have to pull the plug.?
Allakhverdiev did get in trouble again in the final round. It had been target practice for awhile. The ref stopped it to save the fighter from himself, to save the fighter from a resurgent Adrien Broner.
