There's nothing huge on this weekend's boxing schedule. There is a card this Friday night from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, that features the return of Adrien Broner, who is matched against Blair 'the Flair' Cobbs.
To even call Broner a 'fading star' is a stretch at this point.
There was a time when 'the Problem' from Cincy was considered one of the building blocks of the business. But now he's just another guy looking for one last payday. It's been awhile since he's truly been relevant.
PBC
Keep this in mind, it's now been over a full decade since he got his comeuppance against Marcos Maidana in December of 2013. Coming into that contest he was unblemished in 27 bouts, and a two-division world champion. Broner's name was listed on those mythical pound-for-pound lists (yeah, go look it up!!) and some pundits believed he was the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather.
But Davey Crockett wouldn't have been able to help out Broner much that night at the Alamodome in San Antonio as he was bludgeoned over 12 rounds. He was sent to the canvas twice in losing a unanimous decision.
But beyond just losing a fight, Broner got 'Rosario'd'. For those who don't know what that means, it's a phrase I came up with years ago to describe a fighter who is never quite the same inside the ring after getting hurt for the first time. The term was coined for how Hector Camacho was never willing to be macho ever again, after eating a few hard shots from the heavy handed Edwin Rosario.
Annette Navarro, DKP
To be fair, Broner has still had a productive career, but with a particular pattern. He defeated the B-level guys like Emanuel Taylor, John Molina, Khabib Allakhverdiev and Adrian Granados, while getting beat handily by the likes of upper echelon boxers like Shawn Porter and Mikey Garcia.
Broner still had enough of a profile for PBC to pair him with Manny Pacquiao at the beginning of 2019, where he promptly shelled up for 12 rounds and lost a wide decision. Although, he believes that the 'hood knows he won that fight. Since that point in time he has fought just twice. He notched rather nondescript victories over Jovanie Santiago (2021) and Bill Hutchinson last year.
Steve Kim
During this stretch, he's been more prone to have headlines on TMZ than to have fight results listed on Boxrec. He remains a colorful character, the type that can only really exist in the wild west that is boxing. But even as someone who was generally amused by Broner's antics, admittedly, it started to become self-parody with all his personal foibles.
Which is why he parted ways with PBC, and then signed with Don King. Yeah, two ships passing in the night who don't have better options given their current circumstances. Both have seen better days in their careers.
Annette Navarro, DKP
On the final press conference for this event, Broner not only showed up late, but then threatened to shoot up Cobbs if he kept chirping at him. The hope is that he's just kidding, y'know, Broner being Broner.
"I apologize for being late. I want to tell you guys what I tell everyone else. You can’t fight for me. You guys aren’t going to lose this weight for me. And you guys sure aren’t going to run your mouth for me," said Broner. "So, I am not going to stop doing what I am doing just to please you. You aren’t going to put food on my plate or no money in my pocket. I had to handle business. I had to get my work done before I came here to talk shit.”
RIYADH SEASON
So the highly anticipated card on August 3 that will take place at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, which is topped by the match-up between Terence Crawford and WBA 154-pound titlist, Israil Madrimov, is finalized. Turki Alalshikh tweeted this out on Wednesday morning:
3KR
It was a special edition of 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' as undisputed heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and manager, Egis Klimas, joined Mario Lopez and I in-studio for this weeks show. Click on the Linktree to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform:
3knockdownrule - Listen on YouTube, Spotify - Linktree
FINAL FLURRIES
Tomorrow from Montreal, ESPN+ has a card that is headlined by a middleweight contest between Steven Butler and Patrice Volney....The Don King card on Friday night will be on Triller TV PPV...That card in Florida includes is a heavyweight clash between Cassius Chaney and Michael Hunter....Also on Friday night, DAZN/Golden Boy have a card from (my) Verona, New York, that features WBO strawweight champion, Oscar Collazo, who faces Geraldo Zepata....Callum Walsh headlines a card on UFC Fight Pass from the Chumash Casino on the same evening....Then on Saturday night, ESPN has coverage of the Top Rank card that is co-headlined by Xander Zayas and Bruce Carrington from the Theater at MSG.....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com.....
