Broner needs a bigger name than Ricky Burns for his next fight

By Scott Gilfoid: I know there’s already been talk in the past of Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) possibly fighting a unification bout against WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) in the first quarter of 2013, but I think Broner and his promoters at Golden Boy should forget about those small-time plans and look for a MUCH, MUCH bigger name than that.

Broner facing Burns is a fight that won’t resonate with the United States boxing fans and it’s not even worth wasting a valuable fight for Broner. It’s clear that Burns isn’t in Broner’s league, as it was even before Broner destroyed World Boxing Council lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (28-3-1, 21 KO’s) by an 8th round stoppage last night in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The way I see it, Burns would be a considerable step down for Broner from the DeMarco fight, both in talent and boxing fan interest. DeMarco at least had a nice Mexican fan base that followed him for his fight last night. That obviously helped pump up HBO’s ratings. That won’t happen if Broner faces Scotland’s Burns. Only the hardcore boxing fans know about Burns in the U.S, so it would be a fight hardly worth taking on.

Heck, Golden Boy could pick pretty much any contender from the top 15 and it would be pretty much get the same attention as a Broner vs. Burns fight. As such, I say forget about Burns altogether. Let him fight the Liam Walshes and the Kevin Mitchell’s for the remainder of his career, because Broner is moving on to stardom.

I’d like to see Broner forget about the lightweight division and move straight up to light welterweight and look for the big names at that weight. If Golden Boy wants to slow Broner’s career down by keeping him at lightweight a little longer then they need to match Broner up with one of the following fighters: Mercito Gesta, Miguel Vazquez [provided he beats Gesta], Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares, Sharif Bogere or Richard Abril.

I’d love to see Broner fight the Mayweather-esque Abril. That would be like two Mayweathers fighting each other and it would be an exciting fight. That to me is a much better fight than seeing Broner beat up on Burns. That fight wouldn’t even be sporting.