Adrien Broner says he’s turning his career around in 2018

By Boxing News - 01/25/2018 - Comments

Image: Adrien Broner says he’s turning his career around in 2018

By Allan Fox: Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) says he’s going to get back to the fighter he once was and beat all the top fighters at 140 starting with Omar Figueroa Jr. (27-0-1, 19 KOs) on April 21.

Broner, 28, says he’s thankful that he hasn’t slipped off his game too much, because he thinks he can correct his mistakes and return to the form that he once had when he was considered one of the best fighters at boxing at 130, 135, 140 and 147. Broner hasn’t looked like one of the best fighters in the sport in at least 5 years since 2013.

It’s been a slow downhill slide since Broner’s defeat to Marcos Maidana in 2013. He’s talked a lot over the past 5 years of him turning things around, but then he never does. You have to assume this latest rant from ‘The Problem’ is more of the same from him. It appears that Broner hasn’t fully come to terms with the fact that he’s no longer the same fighter he was earlier in his career. Broner peaked early as a fighter, and then lost his game due to him not being dedicated enough. It was a mistake for Broner to move up to 140 and 147. He doesn’t appear to possess the speed or the power to dominate in those divisions like he did at 130 and 135.

“I got a lot to prove,” Broner said to Fighthub about his goal of getting back to the top. “I got to go back to who I was. The thing is I haven’t shifted off of that too much. I just got to get back. There’s a lot of [expletive] that went on [before Broner’s last fight against Mikey Garcia]. That’s why I made some changes,” Broner said.

Broner is wrong about him not having “shifted off too much.” He’s lost a lot from his game. If you look back at Broner’s fights from 2010 to 2012, it’s like watching a different fighter. Broner is not the same guy anymore. He fights in a lazy manner, and he seems intimidated by the punching power from fighters in the 140 and 147 lb. weight classes. Whether that would change if Broner moved back down to 135 and 130 is debatable. The fact is Broner isn’t going to move back down to those divisions, because I don’t think his body would let him fight in those weight classes anymore. Broner has been eating and living well in the last 5 years after moving up to light welterweight and welterweight, and it’s likely that he’s permanently stuck in these weight classes.

Broner has some very serious threats to his boxing career at 140 beginning with his April 21 fight against Figueroa. This guy has the wrong style for Broner with his high-volume punch attack. Figueroa is like a bigger, more powerful version of Adrian Granados. Broner struggled last year against Granados in beating him by a controversial 10 round decision in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. A lot of boxing fans thought Broner lost that fight.

Broner is going to have problems with these fighters at 140:

• Omar Figueroa

• Rances Barthelemy

• Sergey Lipinets

• Kiryl Relikh

• Regis Prograis

• Viktor Postol

• Josh Taylor

• Jose Ramirez

• Terry Flanagan

• Mikey Garcia

Broner can probably beat some of those fighters, but I don’t think he’ll beat them all. Those are talented guys. Mikey Garcia already beat Broner by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision last July on Showtime Boxing. That was a really embarrassing loss for Broner, considering that a lot of fans saw the fight due to the high publicity the match-up received.

”I fight at 140. Anybody that’ll meet me at 140,” Broner said when asked who he wants to fight after Figueroa. “I’m just glad I didn’t step off that much. Adrien Broner is still a household name. I just got to get back. I’m [expletive] these guys up this year. I promise you that,” Broner said.

Broner made it a point during the interview to stress that he will NOT be fighting at 147 anymore. I don’t think it matters though. Broner showed in his last fight against Mikey Garcia that he has just as many problems at 140 as he does at 147. Broner is too slow for the weight class, and he doesn’t have huge power for the division. Broner is like a super featherweight fighting at light welterweight. His power never carried up with him, and now he’s dealing with stronger fighters that have just as much if not better hand speed than him. Broner might need a miracle for him to get past Figueroa on April 21, because I think this is the wrong type of fighter for him to be facing. The good news is Broner won’t have to blame his loss on the weight or whatever else. Broner can recognize that he isn’t the same fighter that he was in the past. He can either accept that he’s no longer going to be a world champion or dry and lose some weight to go back down to 135 or 130. Broner looked chubby on Wednesday at Showtime’s press conference. He could probably stand to lose a good 25 pounds to get back down to 135 if he had the drive to make the weight.

“I ain’t worried about none of that,” said Broner when asked if he’s concerned with Figueroa’s high volume punch attack. “It ain’t about what he do. It’s about what I do. I’m going to beat his [expletive]. I’m strictly at 140,” Broner said.

Broner should be worried about Figueroa’s high-volume attack, because he’s struggled against fighters all his career that threw a lot of punches. Marcos Maidana used a high-volume punch attack to beat Broner in 2013. Shawn Porter beat Broner with volume punching in 2015. Paulie Malignaggi arguably beat Broner with volume punching in 2013, but he wasn’t given the decision. Granados gave Broner problems last year with high volume punching. There are certain fighters that Broner has problems with, and Figueroa’s style is likely going to be a nightmare for him. I don’t see Broner retiring off of a loss to Figueroa, but it won’t matter if he doesn’t. Broner will be forgotten about by a lot of boxing fans. That’ll be Broner’s third loss in the last 3 years. I can’t see him coming back from that.