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Former four-division titleholder Adrien Broner has had quite a year for headlines if nothing much to do with boxing, other than threats to retire and become a rapper if PBC and Showtime didn’t give him $10 million to fight again, but the 31-year-old is back in the ring and training as he prepares for a return to the sweet science.
A couple of days ago, he posted on Instagram with something of a message of defiance to those counting him out in boxing these days:
“It’s time to get my shit back together and become champion again,” Broner wrote, “‘cause they just trying to count me out like I’m old and ain’t got a chance to do shit.”
He’s put up a bit more footage since, with the simple message, “I’m BACK!”
Broner (33-4-1, 24 KO) has won world titles at 130, 135, 147, and 140, in that order, but is also 0-2-1 in his last three and 3-3-1 in his last seven, and his career has never fully rebounded after a humbling 2013 loss to Marcos Maidana. He’s 6-3-1 overall since then, with wins over Carlos Molina, Emanuel Taylor, John Molina Jr, Khabib Allakhverdiev, Ashley Theophane, and Adrian Granados, but he’s lost to Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, and Manny Pacquiao, and went to a draw with Jessie Vargas — in other words, he’s come up short against his obvious best opponents post-Maidana.
Once hyped as the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather in the ring and as a box office attraction by every network that put him on the air, the Cincinnati native has absolutely had some big achievements in boxing and a fine career, but he never quite became the big star he was hoped to be, either, and not to suggest that he’s old and ain’t got a chance to do shit, but it’s fully up to Broner to now prove critics and prognosticators wrong, because the recent results just have not been there once the bell rings, and that’s not anyone else’s doing.
Most of the recent speculation has been that Broner will return in a Showtime fight in early 2021. If he can rattle off a few wins, maybe even just get one decent win, he’s still got the notoriety and fan base to be an attractive opponent, business-wise, for any of the PBC names at 147.