(Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME) By Allan Fox: Former WBA light welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs) thinks that Adrien Broner (30-2, 22 KOs) is nervous and afraid of their encounter for this Saturday night on Showtime from the U.S. Bank Arena, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Broner was late for tonight’s final press conference with Allakhverdiev.
This was a further sign to Allakhverdiev that Broner is afraid, because he doesn’t see any reason why he should be late for a press conference in his own hometown of Cincinnati.
Broner, 26, has lost two of his last five fights and his career will be on the line this Saturday night when he fights the 32-year-old Allakhverdiev for the vacant WBA World super lightweight title. The Russian Allakhverdiev thinks this is the last chance for Broner to fight for a world title, because if he loses this fight, he’s going to be floundering in terms of his career picture.
It’ll be Broner’s second straight defeat, and his third defeat in his last six fights. That would obviously be a strong indication that Broner doesn’t have the talent to make things happen in the 140lb division.
We’ve already seen that Broner doesn’t have the talent to do anything at 147 after he was beaten by Shawn Porter and Marcos Maidana. But if he can’t do anything at 140, then he’ll need to think seriously about retiring or moving back down to 135 to fight at lightweight.
Broner says he can still make weight for lightweight, but he doesn’t see the point in fighting down there because he feels he wouldn’t get credit for any of his accomplishments because he’d be bigger than his opponents, which was the case before, when he held the WBC lightweight title for a brief amount of time.
“This is his hometown. It’s his last chance for a world title and he shows up late and makes it look like he’s joking around with everybody and doesn’t care. I’ve seen fighters do this before and it’s because he is scared.
I don’t think this will be Broner’s last chance for a world title. You have to remember that he’s with Al Haymon, and that means he’s going to keep getting world title shots regardless.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Broner gets another world title shot in his next fight, even though he will have lost three straight fights if he loses Allakhverdiev. As long as Broner is still ranked in the top 15, the sanctioning bodies will keep sanctioning fights for him against world champions.
“He [Broner] is nervous. That’s why he’s acting like a clown,” Allakhverdiev said. “He knows what will happen on Saturday. He can clown around all he wants, but that won’t help him when we are in the ring.”
Broner did seem uncomfortable at the press conference today. It’s unclear whether he’s agitated because of Allakhverdiev or because of all the negative things that have been said about him in the press. This is Broner’s first fight since he was beaten by Shawn Porter last June, and the defeat may have undermined Broner’s self-confidence.
There’s also the criticism that Broner has taken for fighting Allakhverdiev for the vacant WBA light welterweight title instead of Broner fighting other contenders like Jose Benavidez and Amir Iman. The World Boxing Association is letting Broner fight the No.4 Allakhverdiev rather than insisting that he fight Iman or Benavidez for the WBA title. The WBA is giving Broner a big break by allowing him to fight an arguably less difficult fighter than those two guys.
“I feel great seeing him nervous. For me, this is just another fight and just another win and that’s what it will be. A win for me over this nervous clown; I am going to beat him in front of all his friends,” Allakhverdiev said.
As for Broner, he didn’t have much to say for himself at the press conference. He promised he wasn’t going to speak to the media, but he ended up speaking anyway in saying a few short words.
It’s unclear if Broner had to do this due to contract language that he has with Showtime for him to help promote the fight or if he did this just because he knew something was expected from him by the media, fans and Showtime.
“I told you I wouldn’t do any interviews or talk. Nothing has changed. I just want to thank everyone for coming. I will be victorious on Saturday night, October 3,” Broner said.
Comments are closed.