Adrien Broner training for a fight in early 2021

By Boxing News - 12/23/2020 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Adrien ‘The Problem” Broner is back in the boxing gym with his old coach Stafford getting ready for a comeback in early 2021 against an opponent still to be determined. The 31-year-old former four-division world champion Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs).

Broner will be coming off of a long two-year layoff when he returns to the ring in the first half of 2021. The last time Broner fought was in January 2019, losing a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao.

Adrien gave Pacquiao a good fight, but ultimately he didn’t let his hands go, which cost him the fight.

Broner in search of a win

‘The Problem’ Broner will be looking to win his first fight in four years when he gets in there. That’s quite a dry spell for Broner, whose last victory came against Adrian Granados in 2017.

Image: Adrien Broner training for a fight in early 2021

If Broner could move back down to 135, he would be in a position where he could make a lot of money fighting the top lightweights.

At this stage in his career, he might not be able to get back down to 135 because he hasn’t fought in that weight class since 2013.

Broner hasn’t said anything about which weight class he’ll be fighting at, so we have to assume he’ll be campaigning at 147 like he’s been doing in the last seven years.

This year, Broner has asked Showtime boss Stephen Espinosa for $10 million for him to return to the ring, which apparently hasn’t happened. Broner recently took to social media to brag about him being offered a tremendous amount of money for him to resume his career.

Just how much money Broner is getting for his comeback is unknown, but he’s a big enough name to generate interest no matter who he fights.

Broner needs to start winning again, but that’s probably not going to happen unless he starts facing journeyman level opposition at 147.

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Broner lacks punching power, and his work rate is too low to make up for what he lacks with his strength. When Broner was fighting at 130 and 135, his power was good enough to make up for his low work rate.

But ever since he moved up to 147 in 2013, he hasn’t excelled in the same way he did at 130 and 135.

Adrien not strong enough for the 147-lb division

In the past, Broner had a recent not to go back down to the lower weight classes. The money was better for him at 147, and he had no one to fight at 130 and 135. That’s changed now with the lightweight division becoming red-hot.

If Broner moves back down to 135 right now, he would be in the position to fight these guys:

  • Teofimo Lopez
  • Ryan Garcia
  • Vasily Lomachenko
  • Gervonta Davis
  • Luke Campbell
  • Miguel Berchelt
  • Shakur Stevenson
  • Devin Haney
  • Oscar Valdez
  • Jorge Linares

If Broner chooses to stay at 147, his best bet to make money is for him to set-up fights against the PBC fighters Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, and Shawn Porter.

It’s going to be difficult for Broner to continue to get fights, though, given that he hasn’t won a fight since 2017. With a winless streak like the one Broner has going, he’s not going to be able to get fights with the top guys.

Image: Adrien Broner training for a fight in early 2021

He needs to turn things around, and the only way Broner can do that is if he moves back down to 130 or 135. Even 140 would be a bad weight class for Broner because those fighters have power, size, and they throw a lot of punches.

They take training seriously year-round and don’t balloon up in weight between fights eating fast food. Broner doesn’t live the life like some of these fighters do, and that’s probably going to make it impossible for him to excel as he used to when he was in his early 20s.