Let’s call it like it is with this one.
I think everyone agrees that Adrien “The Problem” Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs) does well to live up to his name. He is the most confrontational, over the top interview in the game. It has served him well too. Every single time Broner has created some sort of scene, the boxing public has ate it up. Everyone loves to root against him and it shows in the ratings. It doesn’t take much time after his name come up for people to start wondering why Adrien Broner is still getting main event slots despite his losses. The answer is because his shows do big numbers.
Will that translate to PPV? I have no idea, but they are trying. Of course, there is a dark side to Broner’s persona too. While it might be easy to dismiss lewd remarks and off the cuff insults as a persona, the Cincinatti fighter has a growing rap sheet as well. He and the legal system are good friends at this point. In fact, it has gotten so bad for Adrien that he literally had court in two different states on the same day just recently. You can’t make this stuff up.
As a fighter Broner is enigmatic. Honestly, he’s just not that good. Technically he is a four division titleholder which basically is all you need to know about how much that should be hyper elite status can be manipulated with the right connections and some favorable luck. Talent isn’t Adrien’s issue either. The Problem has a lot of physical ability. He was somewhat of a monster at times at the lower weights. Unfortunately, discipline is clearly an issue. Adrien Broner is not a natural welterweight. He gives up most of his physical gifts to compete at the weight rather than put in the miles to cut down.
Worse is the regression the four division titleholder has seen in terms of technique. The Broner team seems to think he is some sort of defensive virtuoso, but all Adrien really does is stand there and absorb shots on the gloves. Then he insists on letting everyone possible know that the blows did not hurt rather than attempt to counter or fight back. It is the dumbest strategy in boxing. There is no more surefire way to lose rounds against elite fighters than to not throw back. The level of insecurity in that whole process is just something else.
So Adrien Broner is a middling fighter and a bad guy. What if I told you Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) was actually worse these days? Not in the ring, but in being a human. Between the ropes Manny is still pretty great. He doesn’t have the form that saw him become one of the greatest fighters of all time from about 2007-2012, but Pacman has never stopped being one of the best welterweights in boxing.
Pacquiao was pretty competitive with Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2015, though no he didn’t win that fight or even come super close. Otherwise the only clean loss he suffered was the dramatic Marquez IV knockout. Most people thought Manny won the first Bradley fight and more recently against Jeff Horn as well. He still dominates really solid, second tier guys like Lucas Matthysse and Jessie Vargas too. Manny has lost the bounce and ability to go twelve hard rounds, but even at 40 he is still an outstanding fighter.
So what’s my beef? Rodrigo Duerte is the problem. The Filipino president has declared an extreme war on drugs and aren’t afraid to act on it. Thousands have been murdered by the government without trial. At times their offense has been nothing more than being accused. Manny Pacquiao is a senator back home in his island nation. He supports the extrajudicial killings and Duerte, a man who has boasted of taking the lives in those in the drug trade with his own hands as judge, jury, and executioner. Manny Pacquiao openly supports human rights abuses on a pretty serious level.
So that is where we are, villain versus a very different kind of villain on Showtime PPV this weekend. But’s let try to throw personal lives out the window, hard as that may be. What kind of fight will this be? I think it is pretty straightforward. Manny Pacquiao is going to come out and throw hands at Adrien Broner. Adrien Broner is going to stand there with his guard up. When that guard is touched, he is going to emphatically shake his head no. The Filipino legend is going to punch some more and Broner is going to shake his head some more. Manny is 40 now, however, so some rounds he won’t punch that much. In those rounds Broner will shake his head a little less. He might even talk in the ring a bit.
Eventually “The Problem” and his corner will realize they are down on the cards, probably going into the twelfth. Adrien will charge with aggression and maybe will make something happen, but probably not. In the end he will pretend to be surprised and offended at the decision. Pacquiao will act meek and thank the lord. Broner will cry and insult someone.
That is how Saturday night’s main event will go.
The card will air on Showtime PPV for $74.99 beginning at 9 PM Eastern. The co-main event will be a really solid light heavyweight bout between Badou Jack and Marcus Browne. Rau’shee Wareen and Nordine Oubaail do battle for a vacant bantamweight belt as well.
