Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner is putting pressure on his adviser Al Haymon and Showtime to get back in the ring in the next 10 to 12 weeks for his next fight.
It’s unclear how frequently Broner is interested in fighting in 2021, but it could be a problem if there aren’t enough dates on Showtime to accommodate him.
Is Broner still a headliner-level fighter?
Broner will likely insist on being in the main event each time he fights, and it’s questionable if Showtime has enough takes to keep ‘The Problem’ as busy as he wants in 2021.
The former four-division world champion Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) says he’s in a “bad place” in his life at the moment, and he needs to fight again.
“Keep me busy so I stay out of trouble I just want to box @showtimeboxing I’m in a bad place in life f*** all the money y’all giving me I just want to BOX,” said Broner on Instagram in sending a message to Al Haymon and Showtime.
“If you don’t want me out here f**** off, give me a fight in 10-12 weeks.”
Broner doesn’t say why he suddenly has this urgent need to fight frequently, as he’s not shown the same burst of energy towards his career in the past decade.
Broner, 31, last fought a little over a month ago on February 20th, beating non-contender Jovanie Santiago by a closer than expected 12 round unanimous decision in the main event on Showtime in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The Broner-Santiago fight was supposed to take place at 140, but Broner needed the weight to be moved to 147 after it was learned that he wasn’t going to be able to make the light-welterweight limit.
It’s going to be difficult for Broner to get the dates that he needs for him to be as busy as he’d like, unfortunately.
If Broner could get a big-money fight against one of the top fighters, perhaps he wouldn’t need to be as busy. But who at this point would be willing to throw a bone to Broner to give him that payday? His career is on the decline, and it has been since his loss to Marcos Maidana in 2013.
For a fading fighter, Broner has been incredibly fortunate to get nice-paying fights against Shawn Porter, Manny Pacquiao, and Mikey Garcia in the last six years.
It’s sad to say that Broner lost all of those fights, which is why his career has sagged to the point where he’s fighting unknown second-tier fighters like Jovanie Santiago.
What should Showtime do with Broner?
The fact that Broner looked so poor against Santiago is deeply troubling, suggesting that his physical skills have deteriorated more than people had thought.
Showtime needs to make a decision on what to do with Broner.
If they insist that Broner fight quality fighters, he’ll surely lose, and his career will be all but finished.
On the flip side, if Showtime allows Broner to keep fighting mediocre opposition as he did in his last fight, their ratings will suffer.
It’s possible if Showtime lets Broner fight faded fighters, they may bring in ratings for a little while longer, but this can’t go on forever.
At some point, they’ll have to insist that Broner fight good opposition in a sink or swim fashion. When that happens, it could be the end of Broner’s career.
Maybe he can sign with Triller, as they seem to sign a lot of older fighters that are shot. Broner could potentially keep his career afloat doing exhibition fights against Youtubers, retired guys, and MMA fighters.
What Broner has going for him is his trash-talking skills, and his name recognition is well above many of the older fighters that haven’t fought in years.
