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By Allan Fox: WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s0 will be making his first defense of his title this Saturday on December 14th against #2 WBA Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KO’s) in a fight that could tell us a lot about whether Broner has the talent to become a huge star in the sport. If Broner fails this test then he’ll need to go back down to 135 if wants to continue to find success in the sport.

Broner isn’t the type that would be satisfied with just being a contender in the welterweight division. He fancies himself as following in the footsteps of his idol Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he’s someone that would never fail a test against the likes of Marcos Maidana.

There are a lot of doubts whether Broner has the skills to become a huge star like Mayweather. Broner didn’t look good in his first fight a welterweight last June in barely beating Paulie Malignaggi by a 12 round split decision. Malignaggi is someone that Broner, if he’s truly another Mayweather, should have beaten with ease. Malignaggi has beaten easily handled by Amir Khan in the not so distant past, and that’s why it was alarming that Broner was fought to a standstill by Malignaggi.

Broner says “Floyd took it to the next level. It’s made me what to match what he’s done or go past that.”

Broner’s made a name for himself in the super featherweight and lightweight divisions, but he’s now fighting at 147 and he has a lot to prove in this fight. He must win and he must make it look easy. Devon Alexander easily defeated Maidana, and Khan also beat him. To be the next great fighter in boxing like Broner aspires to be, he needs to out-box or destroy Broner to continue on the path of being the eventual replacement for Mayweather.

The one thing that could trip Broner up this Saturday night is his lack of hand speed and mobility. Without mobility, Broner will be forced to stand in the trenches against Maidana and mix it up. Broner doesn’t throw a lot of punches, or at least he didn’t in his recent win over Malignaggi. That means that Maidana will be outworking him, and with someone as strong Maidana, he could get to Broner at some point. Even if Maidana doesn’t score a stoppage, it’s possible he’ll get a decision by being the busier guy. That’s how Malignaggi was able to win rounds against Broner last June.

If Broner doesn’t shine this Saturday then it’s probably safe to say that he’s not going to be the one that will take over for Mayweather when he retires. We kind of saw that already with Broner’s last fight against Malignaggi, but we’ll be able to answer that question for sure after this Saturday.

The Broner-Maidana fight will be televised on Showtime from the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.