A Cautionary Tale Gets a Second* Chance
By Eddie Sanchez
Adrien The Problem Broner returns to the ring to face Pedro Campa, February 13th on Showtime. This will be AB’s 40th professional bout (33-4-1,1 NC), and his first since a UD loss to Manny Pacquiao in January, 2019.
According to Bad Left Hook, Campa (31-1-1, 21 KO), a 27-year-old out of Sonora, Mexico, has carved out a niche fighting moderate opposition in his home country. In addition to victories over former title challengers Marvin Quintero and Juan Antonio Rodriguez, he’s suffered a TKO loss to journeyman Carlos Jimenez and gone to a draw with Abner Lopez in April of 2019.
While Pedro Campa is correctly being viewed as a modest opponent, Adrien Broner has been largely inactive and has suffered from multiple out-of-the-ring distractions, including ballooning-up to nearly 200 pounds.
This is far from his premier status as a former four division champ, but it’s a high-profile return nonetheless. Adrien Broner has had an interesting career as a professional. He reached 27-0 and won his third world title against Welterweight Paulie Malignaggi in 2013.
There was considerable bad blood between the two men and his theatrics outside of the ring, combined with a perfect record, saw him viewed as a star within the sport, with considerable potential to be the next PPV attraction.
It was at this time that his career was set to change. He was scheduled for a title defense against Marcos Maidana, who many viewed as a tough opponent, but beatable. It was rumored that this could potentially setup a Mayweather-Broner PPV event following the victory, where the two would showcase a mentor-turned-enemy bout.
There was considerable hype surrounding his star status leading into the fight, but much of that evaporated following that loss. Marcos Maidana went on to face Floyd Mayweather in back-to-back bouts and AB’s career has not been the same since, as he has never shown the ability to improve his punch output and often gets outworked in fights.
SInce reaching 27-0 as a three weight world champion, Adrien Broner has a record of 6-4-1, with a vacant world tile victory in the Junior Welterweght division. He has lost or drew to the most accomplished fighters he has faced during that time and has had numerous personal issues outside of the ring that have hurt his career.
In 2017, Adrien Broner was pulled over in a bullet-riddled SUV, and was charged with public intoxication. This near death experience provided Adrien Broner an opportunity to reshape his life and he was briefly successful in defeating Adrien Granados via SD.
Unfortunately, since that fight, he has ultimately been unsuccessful inside the ring, only earning a draw against Jessie Vargas and two losses to Mikey Garcia and Manny Pacquiao respectively.
Despite his recent shortcomings, he has remained a draw on social media. Fans and media personnel continue to report on Adrien Broner consistently, which is proof that there is still interest in the man’s professional career that can be salvaged.
His return is coming at desperate time however. In November 2020, he had a brief stint in jail for being unable to meet the financial requirements with a civil lawsuit from a 2018 assault.
This was a hard video to watch as you can clearly see the desperation from a man who once was one of the most prominent fighters in boxing with millions to show for it.
Now, he is clearly on the downside of his career and has even claimed that he has blown through 30-40 million dollars.
In the month and a half since that video however, Adrien Broner is said to have gotten his life back on track. He has slimmed down considerably and is speaking like a man who has learned the lessons of his harsh realities.
Is this too little to late for his career? Most likely, but at 31 years of age, Adrien Broner has the ability to string together some quality victories and earn a living. It is of the utmost importance that he defeats Campa in entertaining fashion. His purse for this bout has not been disclosed pubicly yet, but it is fair to assume that it is no more than 1-2 million dollars.
He will need to parlay a successful victory into future higher-profile matches on Showtime with PBC. Fortunately, he still has a positive relationship with Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe an Stephen Espinoza, among other between the two companies. If he can prove that there is still fight left in the tank, they should be more than willing to broadcast him as a draw in 2021.
PBC still has ties to fighters such as Devon Alexander and Andre Berto which could be future options, and of course, I have even mentioned in my podcast that Keith Thurman could be a an attractive potential option as well. Of course, none of these will be possible unless Adrien Broner is successful on February 13th.
America loves comebacks more than anything. It’s unfortunate that seeing a man reach a certain status, lose it, and then recover gets the people going the way it does, but that’s the world we live in.
Adrien Broner has a loyal fan base, he has the past accomplishments and he has the cache to attract attention. In just over a month, the world will find out if he still has the drive. As a fan, I sure hope he does, because everyone deserves a second chance.
