Adrien Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) reached an all-new level of low during his contest against Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada on Saturday, January 19, 2019.
Broner has lost fights before, but he had always shown something in those losses that made you want to see him again.
When he suffered his first defeat at the hands of Marcos Maidana, Broner was knocked down twice and badly hurt but he showed major heart in picking himself off the canvas and continuing to not only fight, but have major success throughout the contest.
His loss against Shawn Porter was a horrible performance, but in Round 12 Broner sent Porter to the deck for the first and only time in his career. Sure, Broner came up on the losing end of that decision but the knockdown he managed to get in the final round gave everyone hope that there is still some kind of potential within him.
Mikey Garcia was Broner’s next biggest fight. Although he showed very little during the contest, the fight did take place at 140 pounds. It’s well known how much he struggles to make weight so his struggles during the contest were understandable to some degree.
How about when he got a draw against Jessie Vargas? During the second half of that fight Broner started letting his hands go and performed terrific. Although it must be said that during the first half of that fight he didn’t look so great.
With these performances in mind, why would anyone expect more from him?
It’s because no matter when Broner came up short, he still showed something. In his fight against Pacquiao this past Saturday night, he was God awful. This was the biggest fight of his career on the biggest stage and he put out his worst performance.
A loss against Pacquiao is nothing to be ashamed of. He should be on every all-time pound-for-pound list. He has defeated plenty of legends including Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Tim Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Miguel Cotto and plenty of others.
The difference between those guys and Broner is that they actually tried to win the fight. Broner looked as though he just wanted to survive.
What’s more alarming is that Broner believes he did more than enough to win the fight. Throughout the entire fight Broner through only 24 punches per round compared to over 47 for Pacquiao according to CompuBox.
Broner only landed 50 of his punches for an abysmal 17 percent. At no point did Broner force the action or add pressure on his opponent. When the contest was over he jumped on the ring apron and flexed as if to say he performed well.
It’s safe to say that Broner will most likely never be headlining a pay-per-view ever again.
Where exactly should he go from here? Who should he fight?
No one, that’s who.
Can you find a viable opponent for Broner? Sure you can. At this point however, who cares? Broner is not a big-name fighter. He is just a fighter that wants to generate enough buzz so that fans will continue to tune in and watch him fight.
Enough is enough.
Sure, Broner will make a return to the ring in the next few months and be matched up with a decent name. That much is true, but in actuality he shouldn’t be fighting anyone. He doesn’t seem to care. We have heard it all before. If AB is focused then he can beat anybody.
AB is focused. He just isn’t any good.
