By Allan Fox: Former three division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-2, 22 KOs) broke his promise today about not speaking to the media during any of his press conferences when he chose to speak one word today in his press conference at the U.S Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Instead of Broner speaking to the media to announce his fight October 3rd against former WBA light welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs), Broner had one of his friends come up and speak for him.
The friend, who goes by the name of ‘White Ticket,’ struggled in reading the statement from Broner. At one point, he asked Broner to help him with one of the words, at which point Broner said the N-word.
Here’s what White Ticket said in part:
“My name is White Ticket and I’m Adrien Broner’s assistant. Last week, Adrien got into a Twitter rant with ESPN’s Dan Rafael. Adrien promised the fans and the media that he wouldn’t speak at the press conferences or do any interviews until he wins the title at the U.S Bank Arena on October 3rd. Adrien feels like his back is against the wall, and when a.” At this point White Ticket asked Broner to read the word in the statement that he was having problems saying. Broner then went to the podium and said the N-word, and then went back to his seat. White Ticket then finished the statement, saying “When a [blank] has his back against the wall, some [expletive] is about to go down.”
I’m sure the organizers of the Broner-Allakhverdiev fight and press conference were overjoyed to learn that Broner doesn’t plan on speaking during the press conferences or to the media.
Before the press conference, Broner road around on a Segway, and said to Fighthype “No interviews. I made a promise. I’ve got to keep my promise, but you’ll get an exclusive.”
It’s going to be difficult to drum up interest in the Broner vs. Allakhverdiev fight without Broner giving any interviews to the media. The fight will be televised on Showtime Boxing on October 3rd. My guess is Showtime reps would have liked Broner to speak during the press conference.
It’s unclear what Rafael said to Broner to get him worked up enough for him not to speak with the media, but you can imagine that he may have let Broner know what shape his once promising boxing career is in following his loss to Shawn Porter last June. That was Broner’s second defeat in his last five fights. Broner’s record is 2-3 in the last two years since 2013. For a fighter who was trying to sell himself as the replacement for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, Broner has failed miserably in coming up well short of the mark.
You can make an argument that Broner was fighting in the wrong division for him to be trying to take over for those two super stars. Broner clearly doesn’t belong in the 147lb division, and I don’t think that will ever change no matter what tinkering he does with his fighting style. But with the way that Broner was beaten by Marcos Maidana and Porter, it’s doubtful that Broner will ever be more than a paper champion in the light welterweight division.
Broner and Allakhverdiev will be fighting for the vacant WBA light welterweight title on October 3rd. Broner has to be seen as having a very good chance of winning that title, because Allakhverdiev is a beatable guy and not one of the really good fighters that are difficult to beat at 140. The World Boxing Association has made it easy for Broner to win their WBA title by allowing him to fight the 24-year-old Allakhverdiev rather than having Broner fight against someone like Lucas Matthysse or Amir Iman. I don’t think Broner would beat either of those guys.
If and when Broner beats Allakhverdiev on October 3rd, he’ll give interviews to the media. I suppose is when Broner will start gloating about the win and giving the ‘I told you so’ type of comments. But in reality, beating Allakhverdiev isn’t anything to celebrate. Broner is being given a soft opponent for him to fight for the vacant WBA 140lb title instead of a tough guy like Amir Iman or Matthysse, and it’s not going to prove anything for Broner if he beats Allakhverdiev. Broner is still going to be the same fighter that lost to Maidana and Porter. He’s still likely going to lose when he’s matched tough.
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