By Allan Fox: Ivan Redkach is hoping to use his highly publicized sparring session with Gervonta’ Tank’ Davis to get a fight against Adrien Broner. Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs) called out Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) on social media on Monday, saying he wants to fight him in the co-feature bout on the Tank Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz card this year.
Broner had the chance to fight Redkach, but the match never materialized. Instead, Redkach took on Danny Garcia and lost a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision last January.
Broner might not be agreeable to fight on the undercard of Tank’s match against Leo Santa Cruz, though, even though it’s pegged to be shown on pay-per-view. Adrien has been a headline attraction in his fights in the last eight years of his career, and might not like the idea of being subjected to fighting on undercards.
Redkach calls out Broner
“@adrienbroner fake it until you make it. Make yourself in shape so that you won’t disappoint our promoter, and let’s do it,” said Redkach on Instagram.
“Of course, only if you responsible for your talks @showtimeboxing Main Event @gervontaa vs @elfamosoterremoto co-Main Event @adrienbroner vs @ivan_redkach_11,” said Redkach.
Broner’s career is pretty much over at this point, and it would be difficult to imagine an A-level fighter picking him out as an opponent. In Broner’s last three fights, he’s been a big disappointment to boxing fans in his bouts against Manny Pacquiao, Jessie Vargas, and Mikey Garcia.
Broner lost to Pacquiao and Mikey and fought to a 12 round draw against Vargas. Adrien probably should have lost all three fights, but he got lucky with the scoring for the Vargas battle.
If Broner is going to sit on the sidelines until he’s eventually offered to fight in the main event against one of the talented fighters at 140 or 147, he could be waiting a long time. Fighting Redkach on the Tank-Santa Cruz undercard might be Broner’s best bet.
Adrien trash-talks Redkach
Broner, 31, recently trash-talked Ivan last Friday, saying on social media, ‘Hey Redkach, my little brother [Tank Davis] beat your as** yesterday. Just think if we would have fought. I would have knocked you the f*** out.
“Did you see the way Tank did that boy, man? I would have f*** you up so bad, Redkach. You would have made the most money you ever made in your career. I would have f*** Buddy up fast too.
“Nah, you’re still cool people, Redkach. You’re a cool little dude, man. I was still going to knock your a** out, though,” said Broner.
Tank Davis and Redkach to spar on Monday
Redkach 33, and Tank Davis are supposed to be sparring today. Tank said he’s going to stream it live on Instagram. He wants to prove that he can go eight to ten rounds against Redkach, and get the better of him as he did in their sparring session last Friday.
Tank Davis broke the unwritten rules of sparring by filming the sparring session with Redkach and then uploading it on social media.
Redkach then exposed Tank Davis by revealing that he had fled from the sparring session after four rounds instead of staying for the full six, which is what they were supposed to fight. The theory for why Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) crammed from the sparring session has to do with the belief that he was so fat and so out of shape that he didn’t have anything left after four rounds.
Tank didn’t include how the sparring session ended, but we can only surmise that he was dog tired, and needed to rest because things were no longer going well for him. In other words, Redkach was beginning to take over the sparring and was wearing Davis down with his size and superior conditioning.
If that’s the case, then things won’t be any different for Tank today when he spars Redkach. If Tank gassed out last Friday, he’s going to gas today as well. It takes a lot longer than three days for a fat person to lose weight and build up stamina.
Gervonta needs to lose a lot of weight
Tank looks like he’s 20+ pounds overweight right now. Some boxing fans believe that Tank weighed 165 lbs now, which means he’ll need to lose 35 pounds for him to get down to the 130lb weight limit for his match against Santa Cruz. Davis, 25, has got a long way to go before he loses the cargo that he’s carrying around on his 5’5″ frame.
People are already predicting that Tank will miss weight for the Santa Cruz fight, and wind up having to pay a stiff weight penalty.
“@gervontaa you have better to learn from the mistakes of others,” said Redkach. “For example, from your buddy, @adrienbroner. Otherwise, remember…karma is a b**** and your disrespect and attitude towards others will play a bad thing with you.”
Davis may end up following Broner’s lead by eating his way out of his career and winding up as a B-level fighter stuck at 147 or 154, and too small to compete. For boxing fans that don’t remember, Broner was a phenom earlier in his career when he fought at 130 and 135. But unfortunately, Broner ate his way out of the super featherweight and lightweight divisions. He was forced to move up to 140 and then 147.
Redkach calls out Broner
In those weight classes, Broner lacked the size or the power to compete with the best fighters. As such, Broner went from being the A-side in his fights to being the B-side guy. Adrien went from being the A-guy to that of the opponent, and his career quickly fizzled out prematurely.
Still seemingly young at 31, Broner is over-the-hill and has no options left for him. He’s lost too many fights for him to continue to fight in the main event, and now his options are limited to fighting on undercards. It would be a mistake for Broner to turn down the opportunity to fight Redkach on the Davis-Santa Cruz card, as he can reinvent himself.
Broner doesn’t throw enough punches nowadays in his fights, and he would be at serious risk of being outworked by Redkach if that fight takes place. Redkach doesn’t have massive power at 147, as he’s fought most of his career at 135. But the one thing Redkach can do is throw shots, and he could get the better of Broner by out-fighting him.