By Jeff Aranow: WBA Super light welterweight champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (31-2, 23 KOs) will be allowed to defend his title against challenger Ashley Theophane (39-6-1, 11 KOs) for their fights this Friday on April 1 on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike from the DC Armory in Washington, DC.
According to ESPN, the DC Boxing Commission said they will license Broner to fight after “receiving assurances in writing from Broner’s camp” that he will meet with the authorities at some point after the fight, says ESPN.com.
The 26-year-old Broner has two outstanding charges against him on felony assault and aggravated robbery from an alleged incident that took place two months ago on January 21 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Broner has arrest warrants out on him for the alleged incident from January 21. The arrest warrants were issued for Ohio, and not nationwide, according to ESPN. This is why the Washington, DC police do not have to arrest Broner.
While Broner will get to fight Theophane on Friday night, his future in the sport is still unclear at this point. Being able to fight Theophane is a positive for Broner, but once he turns himself into the police in Cincinnati, he’ll eventually have to deal with a trial on the charges. It’s possible that a plea bargain could be something that Broner looks to do.
Broner is expected to win his fight against Theophane without too many problems. Theophane isn’t the type of opponent that Broner typically loses to. Broner is good at beating B-level fighters. He comes unglued when facing better opposition, as we saw in his fight against Paulie Malignaggi, and in his losses to Shawn Porter and Marcos Maidana. Floyd Mayweather Jr. avenged Broner’s loss to Maidana by beating him twice, but it wasn’t easy for Mayweather. Broner never faced Maidana or Porter to avenge his own defeats.
“Anything is tough when you have a lot of things coming your way,” Broner said. “I have tunnel vision. It’s fight time. I’m locked in until I get the job done. Right now I have to focus on this fight. I’m keeping my mind in the right state. I’m not just doing this for me. It’s for my family. It’s bigger than just me.”
Hopefully in Broner’s case, he can stay focused on his task at hand on Friday for his fight against Theophane. If Broner is distracted in any way, he could lose the fight. Theophane isn’t someone that Broner can beat if he’s distracted in any way.
Broner bounced back from his defeat to Porter to beat Khabib Allakhverdiev by a 12th round knockout in his last fight in October. However, Broner wasn’t facing one of the best fighters in the 140lb division. He was facing a weaker contender that didn’t have a lot of power, and who had lost his last fight. Broner can beat this type of opponent. The guys that will likely give him major problems are fighters with skills and power. Fortunately for Broner, he’s got a good adviser that knows how to match him well. Broner might be able to avoid taking another loss for some time if he’s carefully guided.
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