By Allan Fox: #3 WBA, #3 WBC, #10 IBF light welterweight contender Adrien Broner (29-1, 22 KOs) is expected back in the ring in the next three months against an opponent still to be determined on March 7th in the 25-year-old Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Broner hasn’t fought since last September when he struggled to defeat fringe contender Emmanuel Taylor by a 12 round unanimous decision. The fight was a lot closer than it should have been, and it showed that Broner hasn’t improved much since his loss to Marcos Maidana in December 2013. Broner beat Taylor by the scores of 16-111, 115-112, and 116-112.
If Broner is be able to compete against the likes of Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Viktor Postol and Lamont Peterson then he’s going to need to improve dramatically. Broner showed the same lazy style against Taylor that he did against Maidana. He spent too much time against the ropes, and he was out-worked at times by the busier Taylor.
At 140, Broner doesn’t seem capable of throwing more than one or two shots at a time. He’s a pot-shot fighter without the power needed to dominate in this weight class like he did at super featherweight and lightweight.
In those two lower weight classes, Broner was able to beat his smaller opposition with his pot shots due to his power being better. But at light welterweight, Broner doesn’t hit hard enough for him to get over against the opposition. We saw that first in his fight against Carlos Molina, and then against Taylor.
Broner is still young enough to move back down to the lightweight division should he continue to look less than stellar at 140, but another loss for him would be a huge blow to his career. It would be perhaps better if Broner moved back down to lightweight on his own rather than waiting for him to suffer a loss at 140 before that happens.
It’s not likely that Broner’s adviser Al Haymon will match him against anyone good in the near future. You’re probably not going to see Broner put in with Garcia, Postol or Matthysse anytime soon.
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