Adrien Broner remains adamant that he must be paid the handsome sum of $10 million if he returns to the prize ring. The former four-weight titlist made this demand a while back, and now he’s repeated his terms via an Instagram message:
“I’m not fighting If I don’t get my $10 million, and I’m standing on that, so Al (Haymon) and Showtime got some s*** to talk to me about, or I will stay retired. Dead Serious!!!!!” Broner wrote earlier today.
But the man who calls himself “The Problem” is serving up one big problem to Haymon and Showtime. No way can that kind of dough be paid to anything other than the truly elite fighters – Canelo, some of the top heavyweights, maybe a few other guys. But not Broner.
We are if Broner has somehow failed to notice, in the middle of a pandemic. No fans are permitted to attend fights; revenue is seriously down. But even if there were no pandemic, Broner would not get such a huge sum for a ring return. Not now, not after zero wins in his last three fights. Broner has not scored a truly notable win in years.
And is there anything like substantial fan interest in a Broner comeback at age 31 anyway? Do fans still care that much about Broner? Sure, he’s still a pretty big name, Broner is a good talker, and he knows how to garner attention and, as the bad guy, plenty of fans would like to see him knocked out in a fight. But Broner can forget all about that $ ten million. But will he be a man of his word if – or when – Haymon and the folks at Showtime break him the bad news?
Will you care if Broner, 33-4-1(24), never fights again? It really does seem crazy to think there was a time when Broner was seen as the new face of boxing. That defeat at the hands of Marcos Maidana back in December of 2013 put an end to that. Broner’s career suffered a downward spiral not too long after that defeat – with Broner only able to emerge victorious in six of his next ten fights.
Broner needs to renegotiate and accept a substantial pay cut. Or else hang ’em up for good.
