When Broner Fights Again, What Should Our Expectations Be?

I’ve seen some activity on social media which suggests that once again, fairly soon, we fight fans might be seeing the return to the squared circle of Adrien Broner.

You will recall the last time you saw AB doing his thing; he gloved up in January against Manny Pacquiao…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7P5YIKbWw

.. and hopes were high, again, yet again, once again, that the Ohio-born would be his best self.

He was his typical self…

It feels like Broner likes to have “fun” more than he likes trying to be an A grade prizefighter.

So…At what level bout would and will we see Broner, who fights under the PBC umbrella?

I put it to Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza, when he came on the Everlast “Talkbox” podcast:

“Let’s address, let’s shine the light on our own events,” he said, while we discussed recent PPVs. “I thought Adrien Broner would be more competitive against Manny Pacquiao. I thought Pacquiao at his age probably unavoidably slowed down a bit with age. I thought Adrien would be motivated by this opportunity, but he just couldn’t put it together,” said Espinoza.

“The reality is, he showed up professionally, he didn’t come in overweight, he definitely trained hard, he looked like a guy who was taking it seriously. That’s the minimum, right? You don’t get credit for that, but you are at least acknowledged. He took it seriously, it wasn’t a joke. But yeah, whether it’s training or strategy or conditioning, his activity level is not at the point where he’s competitive at the top tier. Can he improve his punch output? I don’t know if he can or not.”

“It’s totally on him to prove now,” I said to the Showtime executive. “I root for him as the human being, as the guy, the dad who has kids, I try to come back to that human side.”

Broner showing that other side of himself, the family man side.

But…

Broner cannot be presented as a true threat to an A sider again.

So, maybe the suggestion of Luis Collazo, the NY ultra vet, who said he’d be more than willing to battle AB, who he seems to be no fan of, is actually a solid suggestion: