Adrien Broner (33-3) and Jessie Vargas (28-2) brought anticipation to Brooklyn all week long in their press conference and weigh-in which included a lot of drama due to Broner’s trash talking. Fans in Barclays Center expected a brawl and it did meet expectations despite the fight becoming conservative in the final round.
The first round consisted of both Broner and Vargas starting off with a defensive battle. Neither fighter landed any key shots. In the second, Vargas started to utilize his jabs on Broner as he landed early body shots and connected on the lower body.
In the third round, Broner was able to defend hard jabs by Vargas as he was able to land body shots of his own and create momentum heading into the next round. Round four consisted of physical play by both fighters as they landed hard shots on each other and started to show aggression.
In the fifth round, Vargas started to work Broner’s body again and was able to score a key knockdown that quickly swung the direction of the fight in his favor. Broner regrouped in the sixth round to land some solid jabs but Vargas had the last answer to close the round with a hard body shot.
Broner displayed a good defense in the seventh round as he was able to avoid many of Vargas’ jabs and countered with some effective punches of his own. Broner continued to land shots as the eighth round continued but Vargas regained focus and regrouped as he landed a key head shot on Broner.
Vargas was able to connect on another effective head shot on Broner but AB bounced back to land a few body shots on Vargas to close the ninth round. When the 10th round arrived, Vargas was able to find an opening on Broner’s upper body but AB was able to counter and land a head shot of his own nearing the end of the round.
In the 11th round, Vargas seemed as if he did enough to win the fight. He connected on the upper body of Broner and was able to defend some of Broner’s counter shots.
Both Broner and Vargas softened down in the 12th round as if each were trying to coast to a victory.
Judge Julie Lederman gave Broner a 115-113 score but Eric Marlinski and Kevin Morgan both posted 114-114 scores which resulted in a majority draw. Fans at Barclays Center were puzzled as it looked like Vargas won the fight late in the 11th round.
At the conclusion of the fight, Broner and Vargas both said that they wanted a rematch. Broner boasted about him being the actual winner while Vargas said they can have a rematch anytime.