By Allan Fox: Adrien Broner needs a replacement opponent for his February 13th comeback fight, as the guy that was supposed to face him, Pedro Campa, pulled out on Monday after one of his team tested positive or COVID 19.
Mike Coppinger is reporting the news of Campa (31-1-1, 21 KOs) pulling out of the scheduled 10-round fight, which had been agreed on.
Great options for Broner’s replacement for February 13th:
- Ivan Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs) would likely jump in to face the former four-division world champion Broner if offered the fight, but there would a huge amount of risk for AB. Redkach isn’t a big puncher, but he throws many shots, and he would be putting constant pressure on Broner. That’s something that the ring-rusty Broner likely won’t be able to handle, as he hasn’t fought in two years. Moreover, Broner hasn’t won a fight in four years, and that was a dubious 10 round split decision against Adrian Granados in 2017 in AB’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. The last true victory for Broner came against Ashley Theophane in 2016.
- Regis Prograis (25-1, 21 KOs) would be an excellent opponent for Broner, and he’s someone that would attract a lot of fans. The former WBA light welterweight champion Prograis lost his title to Josh Taylor by a competitive 12 round majority decision in October 2019. In his last fight, Prograis destroyed Juan Heraldez by a third-round knockout last Otober.
- Subriel Matias (16-1, 16 KOs) has a crowd-pleasing style that would make for a great opponent for Broner to fight. The easy to hit Matias lost to Petros Ananyan by a 10-round unanimous decision last year in February in an exciting fight from start to finish. Unfortunately, Matias’ high work rate might make him an unsuitable opponent for Broner.
- Lewis Ritson (21-1, 12 KOs) would be an ideal opponent for Broner to fight for him to have fans sitting on the edge of their seats for the entire fight. Ritson is one of those attack-oriented fighters that wouldn’t back off for a second.
You can compare Broner to an old car with 300,000 miles on it. It’s important that he’s handled with care and not put in with anyone that has the capability of pushing him hard and throwing a lot of punches.
If Broner is pushed too hard, he could blow a gasket and wind up on the side of the road.
Finding a quality replacement to fight Broner is easy, but that’s not what we’re dealing with here. Broner needs someone that he’s capable of beating that has a decent record. Showtime will look bad if they let Broner fight in the main event against a journeyman-level fighter with a poor record.
How will Showtime get fans to watch Broner’s fight if he’s matched against a journeyman that they’ve never heard of? It was bad enough that Broner was scheduled to fight Campa, who fans have never heard of or seen before.
Broner doesn’t have power at 147, and his low work rate means that the only way he wins is by going the full 10 round decision.
While it is negative that Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) will need a replacement found in a hurry, it’s not that big of a deal because he was already fighting a mediocre opponent.
Campa, 28, wasn’t expected to give Broner much of a fight. This is a fighter with an inflated record with zero quality wins during his 10-year professional career.
Four years ago, Campa was knocked out in the seventh round by journeyman Carlos Jimenez (14-10-1, 8 KOs). Two years ago, Campa fought to a 10 round draw against Abner Lopez (27-10-1, 23 KOs). The 31 fighters that Campa had beaten were lower-level fighters. In other words, Broner isn’t losing anything with Campa pulling out.
🙌🙌🙌
— Ivan Redkach (@ivan_redkach) January 12, 2021
“Sources: Pedro Campa has withdrawn from the Adrien Broner fight on Feb. 13 after someone on his team tested positive for COVID. Deal was agreed to. Now the search is on for a replacement opponent in Broner’s first fight in two years,” said @MikeCoppinger.
Broner last fought against Manny Pacquiao in January 2019 in a fight that he lost by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision.
That was definitely one-sided in favor of Pacquiao, but Broner had his moments at times. He was landing his shots but not showing much power and not throwing enough.