Adrien Broner is back! The former four-division world boxing champion shook the rust off of a 28-month layoff in his first fight under aging promoter Don King. However, after defeating club fighter Bill Hutchinson, Broner went on a rant, starting raunchily and ending with what looked like a fighter attempting a final run at greatness.
Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini gave Broner a post-fight interview and asked if the bout gave him everything he “wanted and needed.”
Basically Broner
“It wasn’t everything .. well, it was everything I wanted, but it’s not everything I needed. Right now, I need some p***y,” Broner said. “Listen, man, this my first time on Don King pay-per-view, so I got to give it to yall. Anybody can get it. Africans, Americans, Dominicans; no disrespect to no law (enforcement) out there, but (the) attorney just got it. Anybody can get it.
“Anybody with a title, I see, uh, what’s his name Romello, retardo, Rolly! I like the winner of Teofimo (Lopez) and Josh Taylor. I want all the belts. I don’t just want a Louis belt, a Gucci belt; I want the WBA belt, the WBC belt, and the WBO belt too!”
Broner has won world titles in four weight classes and was once considered one of the best boxers on the planet. However, after many legal issues, jail time, and admittedly alcohol abuse, he is a long way from his days as an elite-level marquee fighter. Although on Friday night at Casino Miami in Miami, Florida, he started what looks like a serious commitment to a comeback that he hopes will eventually lead to another title opportunity.
Broner’s Back?
Broner looked like a gladiator in his win over Hutchinson, a practicing attorney by day, fighting to a shutout en route to a decision victory in the main welterweight event of the Don King-promoted card. The judge’s scorecards gave it to Broner overwhelmingly: 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91.
It was Broner’s first time fighting again for nearly two and a half years since a disputed 12-round decision win over Jovanie Santiago in February 2021. It was only his sixth bout since 2016, which included an 0-2-1 stretch before the win over Santiago.
Recently, “AB” kept it honest about the financial hardships he has been going through since living the celebrity life. He said on the “Million Dollaz Worth Of Game” podcast that he was spoon-fed money by his former adviser and Premier Boxing Champions creator, Al Haymon. However, he was indulging in alcohol to cope with depression.
King Broner
His promotional company might have been called About Billions, but Broner was only worth hundreds. It led to him leaving the PBC and heading to Don King, who does not have the best reputation for caring for his fighters.
“The last straw for me was … It went from $2500 a day, two thousand a day, $1500 a day,” Broner said on the podcast. “It was my fault; that’s why I don’t point no fingers; the position I was in, the trouble I was in.
“If anything hit my account, I would have to spend it that night because if I didn’t, in the morning the government was taking it or my lawsuits, they garnishing my wages and all that sh*t so everything I was getting sent would have to be spent that day. Then it went down to a thousand a day, $1200 a day, $750 a day, $500 a day, $250 a day — once it got to $250 a day!”
Now Broner is hoping to will himself back into a title shot, albeit with Don King, but fighting easy prey and saying shocking things is an unlikely path back to boxing stardom.
