By Brian Webber: Former four-division world champion Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner posted on social media to let Regis Prograis that he intends to challenge him for his WBC light welterweight title after the first fight of his three-fight deal with BLK Prime in February.
Broner waited until Prograis got a world title to finally decide to fight him, but the problem is, his career is too far gone for him to be viewed as a credible opponent.
AB will need a top 15 ranking at 140 for him to have a chance to challenge Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) for his WBC belt because the World Boxing Council isn’t going to give Regis the green light to defend against the now second-tier Broner.
Adrien will be coming off a 24-month layoff when/if he fights in February next year. The last time the 33-year-old Broner fought was in February 2021, where he defeated Jovanie Santiago by a highly questionable 12 round unanimous decision. This is the same Santiago that Gary Antuanne Russell knocked out in six rounds last May.
“I always told you once Regis Prograis gets the belt back, we go make the fight happen,” said Adrien Broner on social media. “So after I go handle my business in February, I’m pulling up to Regis like I just booked a penthouse suite for the night.”
Broner revealed this week that he’s going to make an “announcement” during Terence Crawford’s fight against David Avanesyan on December 10th fight. Presumably, Broner will reveal his February opponent during that BLK Prime PPV event.
Prograis, 33, will take a lot of criticism from boxing fans if he defends against Broner next year rather than one of the relevant contenders like former WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez, Gary Antuanne Russell, Steve Spark, Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Arnold Barboza or Subriel Matias.
The last non-controversial victory Broner registered was his knockout over then-35-year-old Ashley Theophane in 2016. Since that fight, Broner has fought just five times against these fighters:
- Jovanie Santiago – UD 12 [questionable decision]
- Manny Pacquiao – UD 12 loss
- Jessie Vargas – Draw 12
- Mikey Garcia – UD 12 loss
- Adrien Granados – SD 10 [questionable decision]
Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) hasn’t revealed who he’ll fight in February on BLK Prime pay-per-view, but it will need to be a live dog to bring in many buys.
It’s very unlikely that Broner will win his February fight if he’s matched against a top-tier fighter at 140 or 147.
Moreover, as big as Broner has looked in his recent training video, it’s questionable whether he’ll be able to make 140, which means he will need to face a welterweight.