Ranking the Best Opponents for Adrien Broner's Next Fight
These days in boxing, putting together high-profile fights is a multistep process.
Not only do you need combatants who are worthy of a significant stage, but you need the back-room apparatuses in place to make such an event possible. Promotional companies must align. Television networks must sign off. And if they don't, the logic behind a given matchup matters far less.
Such is the case with Adrien Broner at 140 pounds.
The Cincinnati kid is a world champion for the fourth time after a final-round stoppage of game but outgunned Khabib Allakhverdiev on Saturday night, but the A-to-B-to-C prospects that such a victory ought to set up aren't necessarily in place because of the aforementioned apparatus' failure.
Broner works with Al Haymon, which essentially makes him a non-factor when it comes to fights with guys promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank and Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions outfits.
Unfortunately for fans, that short-circuits some of the best possible fights at 140 before they begin.
So when it comes to exercises like this one—considering which fights would be the best for Broner going forward—we mix a little fantasy with reality. We'll include some of the fights we'd love to see get made, even though we know they won't. And they'll be alongside some other fights that might not be quite so anticipated but are far more likely given who'll work with whom behind the scenes.
Take that all into account as you scroll through the next seven slides and feel free to let us know in the comments section if there are folks you think we might have been better off including.
7. Manny Pacquiao
1 of 7
A lot has changed for Manny Pacquiao since the last time he entered a boxing ring.
When the Filipino strode toward the center of the MGM Grand Garden Arena floor on the evening of May 2, he was sharing a marquee with the world's best pound-for-pound fighter in an event that wound up exceeding even the most optimistic financial expectations.
Thirty-six minutes later, though, the Filipino's reputation had been dinged with a wide decision loss, and his team's integrity was being scrutinized as news trickled out of a shoulder injury that may or may not have been hidden in pre-fight paperwork. And as Pacquiao has sat on the shelf rehabbing the balky wing for the last five months, he's seen his generational foil take one last victory lap before announcing to the world that he's fought his last fight.
If that reality holds, it's going to take a new high-profile name to help Pac-Man even approach the sorts of fight-night relevance he's been accustomed to. And though there will never be a shortage of guys willing to risk career trajectory for a spot in Manny's aura, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more interesting matchup for the 36-year-old than his biggest rival's most prominent impersonator.
Not surprisingly, Broner has chatted up the idea of a Pacquiao fight in the past, suggesting to ESNews (via GMA News Online) that he'd "kick his ass" if it ever came together.
Of course, it barely makes the reality radar these days thanks to the protracted "I hate you, you hate me" dispute that's made rich men out of attorneys representing Arum and Haymon.
But for our fantastical purposes here, it's at least fun to imagine.
6. Jose Benavidez
2 of 7
If you're a stickler for sanctioning organization rules—and let's face it, who among us isn't?—then this is really the fight we should have been talking about Saturday night anyway.
Rightly or wrongly, Jose Benavidez, a 23-year-old Californian now fighting out of Arizona, is the No. 1 140-pound contender, according to the WBA's own rankings. He's also the holder of the group's interim world title belt, though that designation is about as meaningful as being the best ice hockey player in Belize.
Broner is slotted No. 2 in those same rankings, which presumably should have meant—according to the WBA's own rules—that he and Benavidez should have been tapped to fill the vacancy created when Danny Garcia abandoned his title in search of more forgiving ground at welterweight:
"In the event that a World Championship is declared vacant, unless the Committee elevates an Interim Champion to Champion at its discretion," the rules say, "generally the two (2) highest-rated available boxers shall be designated by the Committee to fight for the title, and shall have no more than thirty (30) days to submit a bout agreement."
Benavidez last fought in May and has no fights imminently scheduled, and Broner was obviously willing and able to fight heading into the weekend, which makes one wonder why the WBA would anoint him champion after a defeat of its fifth-ranked contender, Allakhverdiev, rather than require he face No. 1.
In football, it would be like the Patriots winning a Lombardi Trophy by beating the third-place team in the NFC South rather than the conference's actual kingpin. But in boxing, it's dismissed as business as usual.
The aforementioned Arum/Haymon issues make this one just as difficult to actually concoct, which means Benavidez is probably going to need Panamanian intervention to ever get Broner in a ring.
5. Terence Crawford
3 of 7
Terence Crawford might actually be what we thought Broner was.
The 28-year-old Nebraska native climbed the ladder with far less fanfare than his Cincinnati counterpart, but both looked primed for stardom by the time they picked up belts at 135 pounds.
Broner, though, decided to quickly abandon his new kingdom for higher-profile environs and has since seen the aura damaged with two losses in six fights. Crawford, meanwhile, defended his crown twice and became a feel-good hometown story before finally cracking the 140-pound ranks in April.
He was named 2014 Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America, and presuming a successful first defense of the WBO junior welterweight belt comes later this month, he'll be in the running for such acknowledgement again come this year's balloting.
Broner's speed and one-punch power would make an interesting challenge for Crawford's sublime technical skill, and it was a fight that two years ago seemed possible when Arum—Crawford's promoter—told boxing scribe Steve Kim, via BoxingNews24.com, that he wanted to do a "winner-take-all bout" matching the two young stars.
The chasm between Golden Boy (Broner's former promoter) and Haymon (his current promoter) essentially make it a non-starter these days, thanks to the wrangling between the PBC and Top Rank sides. If that ever gets settled, though, put this one among the best the sport can offer.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
4. Viktor Postol
4 of 7
Until very late Saturday night, it was all about Lucas Matthysse.
He'd yapped about Broner. Broner had yapped about him. And whether the fight was realistic or not—given their positions on opposite ends of the promotional continuum—it was interesting to ponder.
But not anymore.
Instead, when the Argentine chose surrender over survival in the 10th round of his vacant WBC title fight with unbeaten (but anonymous) Ukrainian Viktor Postol, it was out with the old and in with the new.
The fight may or may not be any more likely given Postol's HBO alignment and that network's relationship with the Haymon enterprise, but at least it's a different topic to talk about going forward.
Broner, incidentally, entered the night ranked fifth at 140 pounds by Ring Magazine, while Postol was seventh.
3. Rances Barthelemy
5 of 7
When it comes to guys climbing weight-class ladders, Rances Barthelemy resembles Broner.
He was a champion at 130 pounds and considered a logical contender for subsequent jewelry at 135 pounds, but he chose to skip the division entirely to dip his toes in the 140-pound waters instead.
Broner, lest we forget, had titles at 130 and 135 before hopping all the way to 147.
Anyway, Barthelemy's summertime debut at super lightweight/junior welterweight was successful to the tune of a one-sided 10-round decision over Antonio DeMarco, a rugged, straightforward grinder whom Broner had blown out in eight rounds nearly three years prior.
Barthelemy has a chance to go back to 135 for a shot at a vacated IBF later this year, but the fact that he and Broner share space in the Haymon stable might make a sudden stab at the new champ's new belt a more inviting—and easier to assemble—proposition.
"(Al Haymon) told me great things are to come," Barthelemy told George Ebro, via BoxingScene.com, in June. "We've talked about Adrien Broner, Omar Figueroa."
2. Omar Figueroa
6 of 7
For the same reason a lot of foes are incompatible with Broner, Omar Figueroa has inroads.
Like Barthelemy and Broner, Figueroa is also a member of the Haymon-led Premier Boxing Champions stable. And like both Barthelemy and Broner, he's also currently plying his trade at 140 pounds.
Not to mention he's ranked ninth in the division by the very sanctioning body that now deems Broner as the division's champion, which would make it much less challenging for Haymon and Co. to pull the strings needed to secure the Panamanian organization's title-bout blessing.
It doesn't hurt that the 25-year-old Texan has something resembling TV street cred, too.
He appeared on cards headlined by stars such as Canelo Alvarez and Keith Thurman in 2013 and 2014 and then headlined a May 9 PBC on CBS show in Hidalgo, Texas—perhaps laying the foundation for Broner to return to the state where he suffered his first loss against Marcos Maidana two years ago this December.
"I think I can give him a run for his money," Figueroa told BoxingScene.com. "He doesn't move as much as Mayweather, and even if he tried he doesn't move as good as Mayweather. I think I'll be able to get in there and land a few punches."
1. Ruslan Provodnikov
7 of 7
He doesn't win them all, but Ruslan Provodnikov typically makes them entertaining.
In fact, though the so-called Siberian Rocky might be best known for losses to Tim Bradley, Chris Algieri and Lucas Matthysse, you'd be hard-pressed to find a big fight fan who'd not sacrifice a Saturday night to watch him compete. And if you pair him against a guy those same fans love to despise—like Broner, for example—you'd probably have some TV gold.
Provodnikov has been a staple on HBO since the Bradley match, but reports abound that he's in the running for a switch to Showtime and possible fights with a number of big-time foils at 140 or 147 pounds.
ESPN "insider" information from Dan Rafael in late July claimed a match between Broner and Provodnikov was possibly in the works for November. And though it's not gained tangible traction since, its status as Broner's most attractive option—in terms of name recognition, competitive potential and ease of promotion—hasn't changed.
Given all the other boxing realities, this is the one to want.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
