Broner: I’m moving to 140 if Ricky Burns doesn’t fight me

By Boxing News - 02/16/2013 - Comments

burns5By Scott Gilfoid: WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) says he’s going to move up to light welterweight next if he can’t get WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) to agree to fight him. That’s the last fight that Broner wants at 135, as there’s no one else for him to really compete against if Burns beats IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez next month in their fight on March 16th in London.

Broner said to Sky Sport “If Ricky Burns don’t fight me then I’m just going to go up in weight. That’s the fight I’ve been wanting. Ricky Burns, fight me. You was supposed to fight me this time. You ran again. You were supposed to fight me at 130 at first. You ran.”

I’m in agreement with Broner. If he can’t get Burns to fight him next, then he needs to move up in weight to 140, and go after the top dogs in that division like Lucas Matthysse, Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Zab Judah and Amir Khan. Those are the fights that are going to make Broner a superstar, and it’ll likely be a lot easier for Broner to get those guys to agree to fight him.

Broner has had no luck in getting Burns to agree to face him, so he’s pretty much spinning his wheels wasting time trying to get him to fight him. Besides that, there really won’t be much of an upside to Broner spanking Burns because it’s not going to increase Broner’s popularity in the U.S because the perception will be that Broner picked out another stiff European fighter to beat up on instead of one of the better known fighters from the U.S or Mexico.

Broner’s win over Burns will be strictly for hardcore fans, and for the UK boxing fans that are familiar with Burns.

After Broner destroys Gavin Rees tonight in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Broner should make one last stab at trying to get Burns in the ring. If he receives any resistance then Broner needs to move on because he can’t have his superstardom slowed down by a fighter that isn’t considered to be even close to his talent level.

Broner would be slowing his career down for a minor speed bump, and that’s no good because he believes he’s capable of being the first billion dollar world champion. How is Broner going to achieve that if he’s chasing a fighter like Burns around trying to drag him into the ring?



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