By Dan Ambrose: Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner will be returning this summer against a fighter named Bill Hutchinson on June 9th on pay-per-view in Miami, Florida.
It will be a big ask on promoter Don King’s part to entice boxing fans to purchase Broner vs. Hutchinson on PPV.
Even if the former four-division world champion Broner were facing a high-level contender like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or one of the welterweight champions, Errol Spence Jr, fans wouldn’t be motivated to purchase it on pay-per-view.
But for Broner to face a complete unknown in Hutchinson, this fight will be lucky to bring in a small trickle of buys, perhaps as low as a couple thousand.
Broner recently signed with legendary promoter Don King, who is taking him under his wing to try and rebuild his career, which has declined steeply since 2013. AB’s fight with Hutchinson is expected to be announced tomorrow.
The 33-year-old Broner (34-4-1, 24 KO) will be seeing action for the time since his fight with Jovanie Santiago in February 2021.
It’s unknown what King’s end game is in signing Broner because he won’t recapture another world title, and his days of being a money-maker are long past.
Even with soft match-making, Broner won’t be able to rekindle the talent that was there 10+ years ago. The beating AB took from Marcos Maidana took away the best from him, leaving the shell we’ve seen struggle in the last decade. Broner’s last non-controversial win was in 2016 when he defeated British journeyman Ashley Theophane.
Hutchinson (20-2-4, 9 KOs), 34, has also been inactive, last fighting two years ago in beating journeyman Rondale Hubbert (14-19-3) by a six-round unanimous decision.
It’s unknown how many rounds or what weight Broner’s fight with Hutchinson will take place at. Given Broner’s history of struggling to make 140, it’s probably a good idea for King to make this a match at 147 to save AB from having to drain himself too badly to squeeze down to light welterweight.
The last time Broner fought at 140 was in 2017, when he lost a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision to Mike Garcia. Broner looked totally drained after making weight for that fight and was too weak to put up much of an effort to get the victory.
“Adrian Broner’s 1st fight since signing with Don King, which is scheduled to be announced at a news conference here in Las Vegas on Saturday, will be against Bill Hutchinson on June 9 at Miami Casino in Miami, Fla. #boxing,” said Dan Rafael on Twitter.
