Adrien Broner should have lost says Crawford & Jermell Charlo

By Boxing News - 02/23/2021 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Terence Crawford and Jermell Charlo are among many people who believe Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner should have lost to fringe contender Jovanie Santiago last Saturday night in his comeback fight that was televised Showtime Championship Boxing at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut

Santiago (14-1-1, 10 KOs) outworked Broner through most of the fight and landed the harder shots. You wouldn’t know from the scorecards that he’d gotten the better of Broner, as the judges scored the fight for AB as follows: 16-111, 117-110, and 115-112.

“I thought dude won but what I know,” said Crawford on Twitter about him viewing Santiago as deserving the victory.

Jermell Charlo was even more direct about his unhappiness with Broner being given the win. Here’s what Jermell had to say:

“WOW WWWWWTTTTTTTTFFFFFFFF !!!!! THATS CRAZY ANOTHER BS DECISION @SHOsports.”

It’s unknown what the judges saw in Broner’s performance that made all three of them score it in his favor because most of the fans on social media thought Santiago deserved to win.

Image: Adrien Broner should have lost says Crawford & Jermell Charlo

After two years out of the ring, the 31-year-old Broner threw very few punches in the first six rounds of the fight and appeared to lose most if not all of those rounds. In the second half, Broner came back and looked like the better fighter at the end.

Some boxing fans believe that the former four-division world champion Broner was given the victory because he’s well-known and brings ratings for his fights.

A future fight between Broner and former WBA light welterweight champion Regis Prograis would mean big ratings for any network that showed it.

Prograis is the guy that Broner is expected to be fighting at some point if he wants to get a world title shot. When the Josh Ramirez vs. Josh Taylor unification fight winner vacates the four titles, Broner and Prograis (25-1, 21 KOs) figure to meet to fight for one of them.

Prograis and Broner may end up fighting even without a world title on the line. It’s up to Showtime if they’re willing to wait for that fight until 2022 or if they want it to occur this year.

Broner says he wants to get back in the ring and stay active after missing so much time. He lost close to 40 pounds to get down to the 47-lb limit for the Santiago fight, and he was supposed to face him at 140. It was clear that he wasn’t going to make that weight by Wednesday. At that point, the weight was moved up to 147 to accommodate AB.

Broner might need another two to three tune-up fights before he faces Prograis, but that probably won’t help, though. Adrien’s pattern of throwing few punches is something that will hurt him against Prograis or any top 10 contenders in the 140lb weight class.

Image: Adrien Broner should have lost says Crawford & Jermell Charlo

Broner isn’t busy enough with his shots for him to beat a talented fighter like Prograis.

Given Broner’s inability to make the 140lb limit last time out, it’s debatable whether he’ll be able to make weight for his next fight. It might be better for Showtime if Broner’s next match is held at 147, so there are no surprises.

It’s not a good sign for Broner’s fans and Showtime that he couldn’t conclusively beat Santiago last Saturday. When you look at all the world titles that Broner has won during his 13-year professional career, it was deeply troubling to see him unable to dominate a bottom dweller like Santiago.

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The thing is, it may not matter how many tune-ups Broner is given. What this writer saw from Broner last Saturday was a fighter that couldn’t pull the trigger on his shots any longer and lacked the power and the work rate to be a major player at 140.

This isn’t even a strong division. There are a couple of talented fighters at the top in Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez, but it’s a wide-open division after those two.