Adrien "The Problem" Broner has flopped in his two chances at headlining Premier Boxing Champions prime time cards. Now, Al Haymon is hoping Broner's raw personality can breathe life back into Showtime's lagging ratings, according to Boxing Scene.
In the first PBC telecast Broner was the co-headliner against noted action fighter John Molina Jr. The fight was a dud; Broner easily outpointed Molina, but never hurt him, and then made racist remarks in his post-fight interview. In his next PBC appearance, Broner mucked up a fight vs. Shawn Porter with holding and fouling in a dull loss.
Khabib Allakhverdiev: Broner Is "Dirty and Arrogant"
After those poor performances, Broner was due for a break from prime time anyway. Haymon could have plopped him on Spike TV's Friday Night Lights Out series, but instead is hoping Broner's polarizing antics will draw eyeballs back to Showtime, where ratings have dipped with most of Haymon's fighters appearing on network or cable television.
Broner (30-2, 22 KO) is facing Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KO), and the rhetoric has already been turned up. Allakhverdiev has made negative comments about Broner's antics outside the ring.
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"As a man, I don't have anything good to say about him," Allakhverdiev said via Boxing Scene. "Maybe it's just an image he presents, but most likely he's the same in normal life-dirty, arrogant, ill-mannered. As a boxer, he is a fast, talented guy."
Inside the ring, Broner hasn't showed well against top competition. He squeaked by Paulie Malignaggi in 2013 after professing that he would beat the veteran badly. Later that year he was knocked down twice in a decisive loss to Marcos "El Chino" Maidana.
Broner went down to junior welterweight after that pounding and won three straight fights vs. B-level competition before stepping back up in class vs. Porter, whose aggression overwhelmed Broner in another loss.
Allakhverdiev doesn't have much power, nor does he have any huge wins on his resume. His most notable fight was his only loss. It was controversial, and many observers felt Allakhverdiev did enough to defeat then-unbeaten Jessie Vargas.
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