By Allan Fox: Former four division world champion Adrien Broner got what some boxing fans feel was a lucky break today when he was supposed to stand trial for his felony assault and aggravated robbery charges in Cincinnati, Ohio. Broner’s alleged victim failed to show up at court, which resulted in the charges being dropped. The case was then dismissed.
Earlier this year, Broner allegedly assaulted the man on January 21 and took $12,000 from have outside of a bowling alley in Cincinnati. Broner had allegedly been gambling over bowling with the man.
Broner wound up 30 days in jail for contempt of course for failing so show up on time for his July 20 court date.
This is definitely good news for Broner and his management, because they get back in the ring to resume his boxing career. Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) has a nice two-fight winning streak going for him since his loss to Shown Porter last year in June 2015.
In Broner’s last two fights, he’s beaten Ashley Theophane and former WBA light welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev. Broner, 27, is highly interested in facing World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Ricky Burns if he can get past #1 WBA mandatory Kiryl Relikh in their fight on October 7 next month. Burns might go for the idea of fighting Broner if the money is right.
Broner moved up from lightweight to welterweight in 2013 to defeat then WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi by a 12 round controversial split decision victory. However, Broner lost the WBA title in his first defense to Marcos Maidana in December 2013. Broner was knocked down twice by Maidana in that contest. After that defeat, Broner won three straight fights in beating Carlos Molina, Emmanuel Taylor and John Molina Jr. When Broner stepped up to welterweight against Shawn Porter last year, he was easily beaten by a 12 round decision.
Broner doesn’t seem cut out for fighting in the 147lb division. Unlike Floyd Mayweather Jr, Broner lacks the hand speed, reflexes and defensive skills to compete at 147, so he’s perhaps better offer fighting at 140 for the time being. Even in this weight class, it’s unclear whether Broner would do well if matched against the likes of Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. Those guys look hard to beat right now by Broner. We saw Postol lose to Crawford, but it’s not likely that Broner could beat Postol too.
Broner is expected to be back inside the ring before the end of the year. It would be surprising if it’s a good fighter. He’s only fought once in 2016 in beating Theophane, who was not really a relevant fighter. He was more of a fringe contender. Broner’s manager Al Haymon can probably get him an interesting fight if he’s willing to take a risk.
Andre Berto would be perfect for Broner, but I don’t know if that would be a good fight for him, because Berto can still punch and he’s better hand speed, than Broner. With Broner, he needs to be matched carefully when put in with welterweights. He’s a better fighter at 140.