Broner escapes Ponce de Leon in decision victory

Adrien Broner learned a valuable lesson about putting his punches together and not letting a less-skilled fighter hang around. Before the fight, Broner badmouthed Daniel Ponce de Leon's boxing ability, but he found out why the Mexican is a former world champion.

Ponce de Leon (41-3, 34 KOs) was the more active fighter throughout, but fell just short on two scorecards. Broner avoided the upset by taking a unanimous decision, 96-94, 96-94 and 99-91, at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

HBO's ringside judge Harold Lederman scored it a draw. The punch stats were virtually dead even, although Broner was the much more accurate fighter. Ponce de Leon outlanded Broner 127-126, but he also threw 241 more punches.

Broner (20-0, 16 KOs) picks up the WBA junior lightweight Intercontinental title at the age of 20.

The crowd howled in disapproval of the decision and booed when Broner jumped on the ropes looking for adulation.

Broner was the more skilled fighter in the ring, but he got off to a slow start. Ponce de Leon got out to a 3-0 lead on this blogger's scorecard. Broner got back in the fight in the fourth. He hurt Ponce de Leon late in the round with a nasty body shot. Broner showed what he can do the next round, perfectly timing a clubbing left that landed multiple times in the final 1:15 of the round. Broner slowed down in the sixth and won the seventh. He cemented the victory with cleaner punching in the final two rounds. On the official scorecards, he needed that final round to avoid a majority draw. 

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