Former world champion Adrien Broner showed how hard he trained with a before and after picture of himself massively overweight.
Broner packed on the pounds when he was out of action for more than a year and started working out at the gym to return in the spring.
A July date was on the table for a PBC on Showtime clash with Omar Figueroa. Manny Pacquiao’s former opponent was already six weeks into training when the fight was delayed.
Adrien Broner Progress
At that point, it would have been nearly eighteen months since Broner last stepped into the ring against fellow boxer Jovanie Santiago. Her new date of August 20 was less than ideal for her renewed boxing career.
Broner complained about the delay at the time and took to social media before airing his complaints in a live online interview.
“I’m going to be one hundred percent honest with you, Brian. I’m not into any of this shit that’s going on,” Broner told host Brian Custer.
“I feel like Al Haymon and Stephen Espinoza are ******* bulls because why are we doing a press conference on the computer?
“When you got guys like, they don’t make Floyd’s [Mayweather] s*** on no fucking computer, even when fighting a YouTuber.”
That was only half the story. Broner was to fulfill his pre-event wrestling duties on Zoom. The long wait was the real bone of contention.
Weightloss
The Cincinnati native had gotten himself into fantastic shape, a far cry from when he started training with his belly hanging over his sweatshirt.
In the end, Broner was in his best condition since the Mikey Garcia or Shawn Porter fights. Broner was ready to move up to 140 pounds after winning world titles in four weight divisions.
His joy soon turned to despair as he took to social media to call off the fight. No one saw the excuse coming as promoters scrambled to save the show.
“The Problem” claimed that mental health issues made it difficult for him to compete. Opponent Figueroa didn’t believe him when Sergey Lipinets stepped in to replace Broner in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions.
Lipinets would defeat Figueroa via stoppage to move to 17-2-1 with 13 KOs. The late replacement will come forward for the proposed title fights that Broner should have been contesting in 2023.
A triumphant return to form would have seen Broner lined up for massive events at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, or the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Another return of Adrien Broner?
However, it’s back to the drawing board for Adrien Broner, who lost so much weight only to be accused of retiring and faking mental health issues.
The man who lost to Marcos Maidana has a lot to prove when he returns to work. He remains to be seen if he can re-drop the wood.
The views expressed in this article are the views of Phil Jay.
WBN editor Phil Jay has over ten years of boxing news experience. He follows WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
