Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-1-0, 22 KOs) kicked off the first ever Premier Boxing Champions card with a dominant performance over John “The Gladiator” Molina Jr. (27-6-0, 22 KOs) who looked more like a human punching bag than a boxer for the majority of the 12-round fight.
Although the fight wasn’t as exciting as some thought it might have been, it showcased Broner as one of the bright young talents in the Super Lightweight division today.
He was able to work off a stiff jab over the course of the fight, setting up multiple shot combinations that left Molina stiff and stingy with his output.
Moving forward, Broner will certainly be looking to step up his competition. Tonight was his third win in a row over a mediocre opponent since receiving the only loss of his career to Marcos Maidana, back in December 2013.
So let’s take a look at some possible options for Broner’s next fight–which he confirmed will be June 20–whether he will continue to pursue middle of the road competition, or if he’ll push for an opportunity to win a major world title in a fourth weight class.
1. Take Another Non-Title Fight
You can assume Adrien Broner has the option of taking a title fight with Lamont Peterson, who win or lose against Danny Garcia on April 11, will keep his IBF title due to the fight being a non-title fight because of the contracted catch weight of 143 pounds.
There’s also Viktor Postol, who was the mandatory challenger for lineal champion Danny Garcia’s WBC belt, but took “step-aside” money in order to allow Garcia to fight Peterson.
If Garcia moves up to Welterweight after his fight with Peterson, that would assure Postol a fight for the vacant WBC belt, in which he would fight the next highest ranked, and available contender, Adrien Broner.
Be that as it may, it’s also possible that Broner and advisor Al Haymon might want to put him in a fight against another lesser opponent before jumping into a championship bout.
If so, due to the political landscape of boxing, Broner will have to choose from a scarce selection of opponents.
Guys like Lucas Matthysse, Ruslan Provodnikov, Jessie Vargas, Jose Benavidez and Mauricio Herrera, would all be unlikely opponents due to either confliction between promoters, or between television networks.
This leaves Broner with such possible options as Chris Algieri, Thomas Dulorme (assuming he loses to Terence Crawford in April), Humberto Soto or even Amir Iman, a Don King fighter who looked very impressive on the undercard of Deontay Wilder vs. Bermane Stiverne back in January.
As long as Broner can control his weight, he will continue to campaign in the less-hostile Super Lightweight division for the foreseeable future.
He’s lined up for a title shot if not this year, than certainly by early 2016, providing him the opportunity to take over for Danny Garcia as the face of the division.
2. Title Fight against Lamont Peterson
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images
I reluctantly chose this option considering the fact that if Lamont Peterson loses to Danny Garcia, Al Haymon might not want to immediately match him up with Broner, and risk Peterson losing two fights in a row.
It’s faith that Haymon will continue to make competitive fights, and the fact that Broner’s a more valuable entity than Peterson to Haymon, that brought me to consider this possibility.
One would assume if Peterson loses to Garcia, Haymon would be appeased by the belt switching from Peterson’s to Broner’s hands, considering Broner is the younger and more popular attraction.
On the contrary, if Peterson is able to pull off a win against Garcia, that would set up a major opportunity for Broner to not only gain lineal status of the Super Lightweight division, but do so in a more attractive style.
A win over Peterson after he’s defeated Garcia would not only be better for Broner’s legacy, but for his career financially, than if he was to beat him after a loss.
If Garcia vacates his titles and moves up to Welterweight, the WBA strap will belong to Jessie Vargas, and his mandatory would be Jose Benavidez. Both are politically unrealistic options for Broner.
Broner on the other hand is currently ranked No. 3 by the WBA, and could find himself as the mandatory to the winner of that fight, a situation that would see the fight go to a purse bid.
The WBO belt which is on the line when Terence Crawford fights Thomas Dulorme on April 18 is even more of an unlikely option, considering Broner is not currently ranked by that particular sanctioning body.
That leaves Lamont Peterson’s IBF title as the second most attainable belt for Adrien Broner in 2015.
3. Vacant Title Fight against Viktor Postol
As mentioned in Adrien Broner’s first possible option, Viktor Postol took “step-aside” money from advisor Al Haymon in late 2014, allowing lineal champion Danny Garcia to take an optional fight against Lamont Peterson, as long as following that fight, Garcia immediately gives Postol a title shot.
Haymon, being the incredibly smart businessman he is, set this fight up for Broner before it was even a thought in anyone’s mind.
If Garcia vacates his titles to move up to Welterweight, which it looks like he will do, that automatically puts Postol in position to fight for the WBC belt.
Since WBC No. 3 ranked Thomas Dulorme is already scheduled for a WBO title fight against the very tough Terence Crawford, and WBC No. 2 ranked Lucas Matthysse, who is also ranked No. 3 by the WBO, will be more interested in a more lucrative fight with the winner of Crawford-Dulorme.
That puts WBC No. 4 ranked Adrien Broner in a comfortable position to land the vacant title fight against Postol, who’s arguably the least talented fighter of the group.
It’s undoubtedly not only Broner’s most realistic shot at a title in 2015, but provides him the best chance of winning his fourth world title in as many divisions.
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Who do you think Adrien Broner should fight next? Please feel free to discuss in our comment section below.
