Boxing betting tips: Preview of Mikey Garcia v Adrien Broner

Recommended bets: Weekend boxing

2pts Adrien Broner to beat Mikey Garcia at 3/1 - Broner is much bigger physically and while Garcia is an outstanding boxer, he will find his opponent too big on this occasion

1pt Adrien Broner to beat Mikey Garcia on points at 7/1 - Broner can use his extra strength to pound his way to a points win

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Adrien Broner has long been regarded as potentially one of the best boxers the sport has ever seen. It has to be said mostly by himself, but you have to take a former four-weight world champion seriously.

Nicknamed The Problem, he has had more than his share both inside and outside of the ring and that has been his downfall so far.

Brushes with the law have seen him put behind bars, world titles have come and gone, there have been weight issues and also the fact he is more than happy to live a 'playboy lifestyle' instead of dedicating himself to the sport.

Yet here we have a 27-year-old who should now be entering his prime and providing he knuckles down and trains, he could still make a huge impact such is the natural talent he has been blessed with.

Broner (33-2, 24KOs) has been handed a golden opportunity to get himself back in the spotlight when he takes on unbeaten world lightweight champion Mikey Garcia in New York on Saturday night.

Garcia is moving up to 140lbs for this catchweight contest, which should hand Broner a major physical advantage having campaigned as high as welterweight during his career.

Broner will be fined US$500,000 if he fails to make the weight, as he did against Londoner Ashley Theophane just over a year ago which cost him the chance of winning the vacant WBA world super-lightweight title.

But what seems to have really stirred him is the fact he has been dubbed the underdog against the smaller Garcia who is around the 1/3 mark to win the fight, with Broner easily available at 3/1 (sportingbet).

"I don't care about being the underdog because at the end of the day, man, I don't make no (sic) money off that," he said.

"They're some gambling people, man. They're some people in Vegas, man. It's okay though. I bet they won't do it again after this fight." 

Providing Broner makes the weight and turns up with his A-game, then we could easily see those odds turned on their head.

As we've seen in recent months with Amir Khan challenging Saul Alvarez and  Kell Brook taking on Gennady Golovkin, moving up in weight and still being effective is notoriously difficult to do - no matter how good you are.

Like Khan did against Alvarez, I see Garcia starting well but I don't see him being able to make his punches count at 140lbs against a bigger man.

While Khan and Brook were both stopped, I don't see that happening to the well-schooled Garcia but I do think that Broner will start to dominate from the halfway mark and take the fight back to his opponent.

He proved his stamina and guts against Shawn Porter two years ago,  producing a storming finish and flooring him in the last before losing on points. Broner can ill afford to give Garcia the same headstart he afforded to Porter, but he is promising us that we are now going to see a much more mature man.

If that is the case then I hope that it has dawned on him that the time has arrived to really make his mark on the sport.

The tools are there ... but in the past his fragile mentality has been his undoing.

Fame and fortune perhaps did come too soon for him, but in my eyes this is very much a 50-50 fight taking into account the 140lbs limit so I think Broner has to be worth an interest at such big odds just to win the fight.

I am also having a small wager on Broner to win on the cards which is 7/1 (Stan James, bwin) as I can see him finishing strongly, but Garcia should have enough about him to hear the final bell.

Where to watch on TV: Broner v Garcia - Sky Sports Main Event/Arena.

Posted at 1415 BST on 26/07/17.