Adrien Broner is set to defend his WBA Welterweight championship belt against hard-hitting Argentine brawler Marcos Maidana on Saturday. But even before his welterweight showdown, 'The Problem' has already set his sight on smashing the achievement accomplished by his childhood idol Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the top-draw in boxing.

Broner, who has already captured three titles in three different weight divisions at the age of 24, did not mince a single word in saying that he wants to match or surpass Mayweather as a transcendental star in the sports.

"Floyd took it to the next level. It's made me what to match what he's done or go past that," Broner said in a recent interview via Boxing News 24.

Broner (27-0, 22 KOs) is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision win over Paulie Malignaggi to win the WBA Welterweight Championship in the earlier part of 2013. In the match, Broner managed to show his superb boxing skills against a flat-footed opponent like Malignaggi.

But there's a problem. While Broner cruised to an easy win, the young American boxer failed to live up to expectation. Although Malignaggi is a two-division world champ, boxing fans know he's always going to be an easy-picking against elite-level competition.

Amir Khan, who is rumoured to be Mayweather's choice for his May 3 bout, easily demolished Malignaggi on his way to knocking him out in the 11th round of their WBA Light Welterweight bout in 2010.

Against Broner, Malignaggi was able to stand toe-to-toe and even catch him with big blow up to the final bell. For Broner to become the sport's next big star, he has to prove that he can finish off top level opponents on an emphatic note.

Big Test against Maidana

Maidana, the former WBA light welterweight champion, is not going to be an easy match for Broner. The 30-year-old Argentinean slugger has been undefeated in his previous three fights, knocking out his opponent with relative ease.

Though he enters the ring as an underdog on Saturday, many boxing analysts actually gave him a nice shot at pulling off a shocker, if Broner will not be able to pull his act together. Maidana's high volume of punches is expected to give Broner trouble throughout the match. It will be interesting to see how Broner would solve this amount of pressure right from the opening bell.

Mayweather vs. Broner

After his May 3 fight, Mayweather has three bouts left in his lucrative six-fight deal with Showtime. Mayweather, who admitted that he has few years left to fight, might have no choice but to take on his protégé Broner down the road. The passing-the-torch fight between the two slickest boxers in the sport could happen in 2015, especially if Broner continues to pad up his stock with sensational wins against A-list oppositions.

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