By Allan Fox: Former three division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-2, 22 KOs) is doing a great job of undermining his fight for this Saturday night on October 3rd against former WBA “regular” light welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs) by refusing to speak to the media.
Broner, 26, is still bent out of shape after being quite rightfully raked over the coals by Dan Rafael about him being allowed to fight for the vacant WBA “regular” 140lb title Against the 32-year-old #5 WBA Allakhverdiev rather than against #1 WBA Jose Benavidez (23-0, 16 KOs), who has been skipped over completely by the World Boxing Association for this fight.
The Top Rank promoted Benavidez, who recently won the interim WBA 140lb title last May with a 12th round knockout victory over Jorge Paez Jr., is being told that he has to defend his interim title rather than fight for the WBA “regular” light welterweight title against the No.2 Broner.
Location of Broner- Allakhverdiev fight: U.S. Bank Arena, in Cincinnati, Ohio
Where to watch? Showtime Championship Boxing
Start time – 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT
By not speaking to the media, Broner is making it tough to drum up interest in his fight against Allakhverdiev on Saturday. Because of Broner not speaking to the media, there won’t be a media call for the fight, according to Rafael. How can you have a media phone call with Broner not speaking to the media? Earlier this month, Broner said only one word in saying the N-word at the kickoff press conference with Allakhverdiev on September 1st in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Instead of Broner speaking, he had one of his friends speak for him. His friend struggled to read a statement that Broner had written for the media. It was painful to watch Broner’s friend struggle to read the words that Broner had written. Broner did say one word during the press conference in saying the N-word, so it’s possible that he contractually has to participate in some manner in speaking to the media.
By saying one word, Broner likely fulfilled his part, but it obviously isn’t a great deal for Showtime who are televising the fight. They’re paying Broner a lot of money to fight on their network, and in return they get a fighter who is paying them back by not speaking to the media and saying only one word at a press conference. Broner isn’t helping the network out by not doing his part to create interest in the fight.
The Broner-Allakhverdiev final press conference is this Thursday on October 1st at the U.S Bank Arena at 3:00 p.m. in Cincinnati. It’s probable that Broner will say one word again at the press conference to show that he’s technically participating in it. Other than that, it wouldn’t be surprising if Broner has someone stand up and speak for him again.
“Broner’s refusal to talk means no media call for fight. 1st time in 15+ yrs on #boxing beat I recall no call for @SHOsports Champ telecast,” Rafael said on his Twitter. “I’m entirely amused that Broner is refusing to do any interviews or media call to promote his fight in his hometown. A total pro!!!.”
On Saturday @AdrienBroner heads home to Cincinnati to face Khabib Allakhverdiev for the WBA Super Lightweight title. pic.twitter.com/v7jEL6xqWp
— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) September 28, 2015
Broner lost his last fight to former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter last June in losing a 12 round decision. If he loses to Allakhverdiev on Saturday, Broner will have lost 3 out of his last 6 fights, and his career will be pretty much on the rocks.
You can’t tell what Showtime would do with a fighter with 3 defeats in his last 6 fights, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they go in another direction to focus on fighters that actually winning their fights and participating in their press conferences.
You can’t say that Broner’s career will be over if he loses to Allakhverdiev, because he’s found success at super featherweight and lightweight in the past, but I think it would be a really good indication that Broner would need to seriously think about cutting some weight and dropping back down to lightweight or super featherweight so that he can become a championship level fighter once again.
Broner hasn’t looked like the same fighter that he once was since moving up to 140 and 147. It’s unknown if that’s because he’s got so many outside interests going, or if it’s just a case of him not being skilled enough to fight in those divisions. If you look at Broner’s loss to Porter, it’s pretty clear why he lost that fight. Broner averaged only 25 punches thrown per round.
That’s not even a heavyweight level work rate. For a welterweight, 25 punches thrown per round is just horrible and asking for trouble. Broner needs to change how he fights, throw more punches, and rededicate himself to the sport. He also needs to resist being childish by refusing to speak with the media when writers take shots at him.
It is one thing to be upset with a writer about him giving his opinion about him and the circumstances behind his fight against Allakhverdiev, but it’s another thing to take it out on the promotion of the event by refusing to speak with the media. This hurts Showtime and they’re the ones that are paying him. They didn’t do anything to Broner, and yet they’re getting the shaft with his behavior.
It’s going to be difficult for Broner to turn his career around if he loses to Allakhverdiev. It’s not as if Broner can look in another direction to go after one of the other champions at 140, because the fighters are arguably a lot better than Allakhverdiev. If you put Broner in with the likes of Lucas Matthysse, Lamont Peterson or Victor Postol, he’ll probably lose. At this point in Broner’s career, it’s doubtful that he can melt down to lightweight and resume his dominance in that weight class. Broner might be stuck at 140 and 147.
In an interesting undercard fight on the card, IBF super featherweight champion Jose Pedraza will be defending his title against #7 IBF Edner Cherry. The winner of the Pedraza-Cherry fight will be facing #1 IBF mandatory challenger Stephen Smith.
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