By: Dylan Fowler
Adrien Broner has struggled for two years to get his life and boxing career back on track. In November of 2018, he began his battle with legal trouble following an alleged assault case of a woman in a nightclub. Broner last fought in 2019 in a unanimous decision loss to the 42-year-old WBA champ Manny Pacquiao. His last win came four years ago in early 2017.
According to Cory Shaffer of Cleveland.com, Broner told Cuyahoga County Judge Nancy Margaret Russo in his last court hearing that he had a fight scheduled that will bring him “a significant purse” this January. We are left scratching our heads. Was there any way this fight with Pedro Campa was the fight Broner referred to?
Pedro Campa was the right opponent in regard to a winning record with the Mexican fan base that could increase viewership. Campa has a weak resume that has only brought him one fight outside of Mexico. Since the announcement of the February 13th Showtime bout, Campa has dropped from the fight due to a team member testing positive for COVID-19.
Broner oddly has an opportunity to take advantage of COVID-19’s restrictions on boxing. Although he has a built-up hiatus away from the sport, Broner should find a more well-known fighter that is in a similar pause. People will tune in to comeback stories, and what could be a better comeback than undoing a wrong in a bout with Jessie Vargas? Jessie Vargas is not a tune-up, but he is on a similar pause that dates his last fight before the pandemic. Their showdown in 2018 came down to a 12-round draw. Vargas has one win in his last four fights. That last win came in the same year as Broner’s.
Broner is a quick-handed, wide-stance counter puncher that takes advantage of his opponent’s mistakes with concussive power of jabs with either hand. He struggled with fighters that impose high energy movements with high punch volumes. Mikey Garcia and Manny Pacquiao let their hands go early on Broner, putting him behind in the early rounds. In each fight, Broner found his moments to make up for early rounds; however, these high-volume fighters still kept him tame enough for arguable rounds that went in their favor and provided wins. Jessie Vargas is not the high energy, volume puncher. Broner came back from losing early rounds, let his hands go a bit more, and flipped the bout into a draw.
Broner is going to take a fight that will best suit his strengths. He fought with more confidence against Jessie Vargas than any of his most recent fights. This rematch will kick start the fire behind either Broner or Vargas’ recently struggled resumes, while providing the purse each fighter will look for.
