By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing USA/DAZN says Manny Pacquiao is a faded fighter, and his opponent for this Saturday, Adrien Broner, has poor discipline and gets beaten each time he steps up against against better opposition. As far as Hearn’s concerned, the Pacquiao vs. Broner fight does nothing for him. Hearn prefers the March 16 fight between IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. and Mikey Garcia. That is an interesting fight, says Hearn.
Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) will be defending his IBF welterweight title against former four division world champion Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs) this Saturday, January 19 on SHOWTIME PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hearn’s tone during the interview sounds almost like he’s jealous beyond belief in talking about the Pacquiao vs. Broner fight. With some of Hearn’s recent cards on DAZN being dull mismatches like Demetrius Andrade vs. Walter Kautondokwa, it’s not surprising that he sounds green with envy when talking about the Pacquiao-Broner fight. It’s like the ‘Fox and the Grapes’ from Aesop.
“It does nothing for me, that fight,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said to Fighthype about the Pacquiao vs. Broner fight this Saturday night on SHOWTIME PPV. “Don’t get me wrong; what a fighter Pacquiao, his achievements. But no disrespect, faded. The other guy [Adrien Broner], he loses every time he steps up. Poor discipline. It doesn’t do anything for me, that fight. It’s a decent fight, but does it excite you, I don’t know. It’s a decent fight, but I prefer [Errol] Spence against [Mikey] Garcia. That [fight] excites me a little bit. I predict Manny Pacquiao wins on points, just like Mikey Garcia said,” Hearn said.
Pacquiao vs. Broner could surprise some people on Saturday. Pacquiao, 40, still has a lot left in the tank, as he showed against Lucas Matthysse last summer in Malaysia, and Broner showed glimpses of greatness against Jessie Vargas and Mikey Garcia. Granted, those moments were few and far between, but when Broner was focused in those fights, he was getting the better of them. When Broner has his mind right, he’s as good as anyone in the welterweight division. Pacquiao is going to have his hands full on Saturday if Broner comes to fight from the opening bell.
There’s rumors that Hearn tried to sign both Pacquiao and Broner to his Matchroom USA stable. If that’s the case, then you have to wonder if Hearn saw those two as faded or under producing fighters at that time. Broner posted Hearn’s offer to him on social media and ridiculed it.
It would be nice if Hearn would let Matchroom heavyweight Anthony Joshua take on the lions in the division like Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz or Tyson Fury. Joshua has been a pro since 2013, and all he has to show for all those years is a fight that he almost lost to 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. Hearn should have matched Joshua against Wilder, Fury and Luis Ortiz years ago.
