By Scott Gilfoid: Adrien Broner could be returning to the ring in December against an opponent still to be determined. The 27-year-old Broner has plans in fighting for a world title against WBA World light welterweight champion Ricky Burns (41-5-1, 14 KOs) in February next year in Las Vegas, Nevada. Until then, Broner could be taking a tune-up fight in December.
Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) hasn’t fought since last April when he blew out an over-matched 35-year-old Ashley Theophane in nine rounds. That was supposed to have been a title defense for Broner for his WBA World super lightweight title, but he failed to make weight and lost his belt on the scale.
Broner had little problems in defeating Theophane. However, since then, Broner has been dealing with legal problems in Cincinnati, Ohio. He finally took care of those problems, and he’s ready to return to the ring against whoever his management can get for him in December. Broner is managed by Al Haymon.
It’s unclear whether he’ll be able to find anyone for him or not. It would be nice if Haymon can find a body for Broner to face on one of his Premier Boxing Champions cards. Broner’s trainer Mike Stafford sees him back inside the ring in December at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It would be a good idea for Broner to fight before he faces Burns, because he’s going to need a good set of wheels to catch up with the Scottish fighter.
If you saw Burns’ recent fight last Friday against knockout artist Kiryl Relikh, Burns was running all around the ring for 12 rounds, making it nearly impossible for Relikh to catch up to him to try and land anything. It wasn’t until Relikh got desperate in the 11th and 12th rounds that he was able to get near enough to Burns to land anything. Even then, it took for Relikh to run after Burns to catch up to him, because he was running around the ring to avoid him.
Broner’s trainer Mike Stafford said to RingTV.com:
“We’ll hopefully be fighting before we face Burns. It’s been awhile since Adrien fought. He wants to get back into the ring as soon as possible. With the fight with Burns happening in February, we’d like to fight before that.”
Hopefully, Haymon can find someone worthwhile for Broner to fight, because he needs to get back in action. Broner has fought only once in 2016 in beating Ashley Theophane. In 2015, Broner defeated Khabib Allakhverdiev by a 12th round knockout last October. Before that, Broner was soundly beaten by Shawn Porter by a 12 round unanimous decision in June 2015.
Burns’ manager Alex Morrison feels fairly certain that Burns will be coming over to the United States to face Broner in Las Vegas, Nevada in February, 2017.
The negotiations are said to be almost completed. Burns is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport. He said the fight could have happened in this month, but the money wasn’t there for the fight. Hopefully the money will be there for next February. The two fighters were on course to fight each other five years ago in 2011, but Burns gave up his WBO super featherweight title rather than take the fight with Broner.
Morrison said to STV:
“I’d say it’s 99 percent certain the fight against Broner in Las Vegas will go ahead,” Alex Morrison said. “We are in ongoing negotiations with Broner’s camp. It’s likely to take place in February, as yet a venue to be identified. Ricky could receive a life-changing amount of money with his fight and I’m confident he’ll retain his title,” Morrison said. “He’s not going there to sell his title. He’ll be going there to retain it. I think he showed on Friday’s he’s capable of beating anyone.”
It would be good for Burns to take the fight with Broner this time, because he could lose his title at any time. The Burns-Relikh fight showed clearly that Burns is a weak champion, who would be extremely vulnerable against the top contenders like John Molina Jr., Adrian Granados, Frankie Gomez, Rances Barthlemey and Antonio Orozco. Those are fighters that are capable of winning on the road, because they bring their own judges with them in the form of their fists. They wouldn’t let a fight against Burns make it to the cards. They would chase him down, walk through his weak shots, and look to KO him. Relikh showed too much respect for Burns’ power, and he put too much emphasis on his defense rather than on his offense in letting his hands go.
It’s a good thing that Broner isn’t fighting Burns in Scotland, because that might be a tough for him to try and get a decision. The last thing Broner would need is to be on the receiving end of a controversial decision against Burns like Raymundo Beltran and Relikh were when they fought over there.