By Dean Berman: Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner says he’s now retired from boxing. Last Saturday, the 30-year-old former four division world champion Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) broke the news that he’s done with the sport.
Broner has been a professional for 11 years after starting his career in 2008. He was a great fighter during the zenith of his career from 2010 to 2012.
Given how poorly Broner has been fighting lately, it’s not shocking that he’s retired. He’s lost 2 out of his last 3 fights, and hasn’t fought since his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao last January.
Broner says he’s “retired”
“F— boxing. You know I’m retired,” said Broner to secondsout.
It was thought that Broner might continue his career last July when he saw how Pacquiao was able to beat the previously unbeaten WBA Super World welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) by a 12 round decision. The scores were 115-112, 115-112 for Pacquiao, and 114-113 for Thurman.
In contrast, Pacquiao beat Broner by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 116-112, 116-112 and 117-111. Thurman did a better job against the 40-year-old Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs).
Adrien’s career was never the same after loss to Maidana
When Broner was fighting at 130 and 135, he was fun to watch. The way that he was able to walk those fighters down, and score knockouts, it was impressive. When Broner moved up to 147, it was a bridge too far. In Broner’s controversial 12 round split decision win over WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi in June 2013, he was given a win that a lot of boxing fans felt he didn’t deserve. Malignaggi was furious after the fight, feeling that he’d been robbed.
Broner should have vacated his WBA title and moved back down to lightweight, because he had the size to compete in that division. Unfortunately for Broner, he chose to stay at 147, and defend against the hard hitting Marcos Maidana in December 2013. Maidana battered Broner in knocking him down twice in winning a 12 round decision. That loss took a lot out of Broner mentally. He was never the same as he was before that fight, even though he later captured the WBA 140-lb title in beating Khabib Allakhverdiev.
Broner has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights in defeats against Pacquiao and Mikey Garcia. Adrien hasn’t won a fight in two years since his controversial 10 round split decision win over Adrian Granados in February 2017. A lot of boxing fans felt that Broner was given a gift from the judges due to the fight taking place in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Boxing News 24 scored the fight for Granados by 97-93 score.
Broner captured his four division world titles beating the following fighters:
- Vicente Martin Rodriguez – WBO 130-lb title
- Antonio DeMarco – WBC 135
- Paul Malignaggi – WBA ‘regular’ 147
- Khabib Allakhverdiev – WBA 140
Those are a weak bunch of fighters that Broner beat to win his world titles. If those guys were still around today, Broner would have an excellent chance of picking up more belts. Broner can’t make weight for the 130 or 135-pound divisions any longer. Even 140 would be a lot of work for Broner.
