By Allan Fox: Adrien Broner sounds like he’s obsessed with food in talking about his diet for his February 20th comeback fight against Jovanie Santiago on Showtime from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) has lost a reported 35 pounds as he slowly melts down to 140 for his 12-round main event fight against the 31-year-old Puerto Rican fighter Santiago (14-0-1, 10 KOs). Adrien looked painfully thin the way that people do when they drop a lot of weight too quickly.
They get that emaciated look where their head looks too big for their body. Broner is looking like that right now. Like many people that lose a dramatic amount of weight, Broner talks nonstop about food.
That’s not a good sign for a fighter that will need to stay thin for a long duration if he’s to have a chance of being successful with his comeback. You can tell from listening to Broner talk that he misses food a great deal.
Showtime has chosen to put Broner, 31, in the main event despite him coming off a two-year layoff. Broner last fought in January 2019, losing badly to Manny Pacquiao by a 12 round unanimous decision in a non-competitive fight.
Although Broner had lost in the past to Mikey Garcia, Shawn Porter, and Marcos Maidana, he’d never been beaten as soundly as Pacquiao did to him. That fight showed once and for all that Broner is not cut out to be competing at 147.
It’s fair to say that we’ll eventually see Broner being exposed as not having enough raw ability to compete at the highest rungs at 140, either.
The former four-division world champion Broner has obviously lost some of his ability due to age, ring wear, inactivity, poor diet, and not spending enough time training at his craft.
Broner has fallen into the same trap that many fighters do after they make a lot of money.
They ease off with the hard work that brought them to that point and spend long periods outside of the ring, buying houses, cars, eating rich [fattening junk food], and living a sedentary lifestyle.
The chances of Broner’s comeback being successful are nil. If Broner’s goal for his comeback is to make easy money on Showtime beating powder-puff opposition that even the hardcore boxing fan has never heard of before, he’ll be successful at that.
But if Broner’s goal is to try and win a world title at 140, forget it. He’s not likely going to be capable of doing that, and it has nothing to do with Broner’s inactivity, poor diet, and advancing age.
It’s more to do with the fact that Broner was never talented enough to beat the best in the light welterweight division.
Broner doesn’t throw enough punches, he’s not fast enough, and his power didn’t carry up to that division from when he was at his best at 130 and 135. Just like when Broner failed at 147, he’s going to fail at 140 as well.
Broner decided to pursue money in a weight class that his body frame didn’t support at 147. If he had stayed at 130 or 135, he would have enjoyed long-term success in those weight classes.
His power was enough for him to get away with having a poor punch output and less than blazing hand speed. But at 140 and 147, Broner doesn’t hit hard enough, doesn’t throw enough punches, and is not fast enough to compete.
It’s good for Broner that Showtime is willing to pay him to fight in the main event on their cards, but you have to wonder how long this gig will last for ‘The Problem.’
At some point, Showtime will want to see results with Broner taking on the likes of Regis Prograis and proving he can beat that type of fighter, but I don’t think he can do that.
According to the official records, Broner hasn’t won a fight since 2017 he beat Adrian Granados by a 10 round split decision. But if you saw that fight, you’ll know Broner lost that fight but was given an equivalent of a hometown decision.
The last real win for Broner was in 2016 against Ashley Theophane, with him knocking the fringe contender out in the ninth round.