Two years after his last appearance, former four-division champion Adrien Broner returned to the ring on Saturday in a middleweight main attraction that looked like an Adrien Broner fight.
Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) was not active enough to impress and needed a final rally to save a disputed unanimous decision on Jovanie Santiago (14-1-1, 10 KOs) on a Premier Boxing Champions card from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. In true Broner style, your post-fight interview was also more exciting and colorful than the previous 12 rounds.
Despite being beaten by 207 to 98 by lightweight Santiago, according to CompuBox, the three judges favored Broner’s 31-year-old heavier counter kicks by 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110 . CBS Sports also had 115-112 for Broner, who benefited from Santiago having obtained a point by referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to close Round 4, despite both fighters having punched after the bell.
“That was cool. I want to go home and really look at my fight. I haven’t been fighting in two years,” said Broner. “I felt good and I felt like I won the fight. I felt like I won him with the jab, honestly. It’s good to have my hand raised.”
Despite Broner’s comments, his jab was virtually nonexistent until his last raise. He relied mainly on counter-left hooks and short right hands in a fight that, on paper, had nothing to be as close as the talent gap between the two was given.
Santiago, 31, was taking a big step in his class in his first fight outside the Dominican Republic or his native Puerto Rico. Broner, for his part, has not fought since the 2019 lifeless defeat to Manny Pacquiao in his pay-per-view fight before suffering a layoff that featured legal problems, alcohol abuse and weight gain.
“I have to go home and assess my performance, but I didn’t get very hot,” said Broner. “Later in the fight I warmed up and started to feel good. I knew the bastard was going to be tough because he has it [undefeated record]. I knew he would fight like a homeless man looking for a sandwich. [But] I went in and did the job. “
After the fight, Broner summoned journalist Steve Farhood from Showtime and the Hall of Fame, who marked the fight in favor of Santiago as an unofficial broadcast judge. Santiago, however, had no problems with the decision.
“No, that doesn’t surprise me. Broner did a good job there,” said Santiago. “The decision could have been on both sides. It wasn’t that I thought I was losing the fight, but the fight could have been on both sides. He fought very well and the decision was over.
“Boxing fans know who I am now, but to win this fight, I think I needed a little more pressure and the fight would have gone my way.”
Broner seemed to be actively doing the intermediate rounds, abandoning his jab and not making Santiago pay for entering and running for the body. But Broner woke up in the second half and visibly injured Santiago with a left hook in the eighth round, which almost made him touch the glove on the screen to avoid falling.
In round 9, Broner hit a left hook to open a cut below Santiago’s left eye, although the heavy underdog rallied to beat Broner in the final round.
After the fight, Broner suggested that staying active as a fighter would be the remedy to keep him out of trouble.
“I want to say to [PBC founder] Al Haymon and [Showtime Sports president] Mr. [Stephen] Espinoza, keep me in the ring, “said Broner.” If I was fighting regularly, maybe friend [Santiago] it wouldn’t have lasted. But just keep me in the ring and maybe I’m not fighting cases and I can do what I have to do.
“It’s a different AB. What happened was that I only had $ 13 in this shit fight. We moved to about $ 13 million, so a lot of things are going to change. I’m not going to lie. For the rest of the weekend, we’re going to turn around. bottles and have sex, but I’ll be back at the gym after this weekend. “
The fight was originally scheduled for 140 pounds, but was raised to the welterweight limit on Thursday after the two fighters admitted they had trouble cutting back. Moving on, Broner hopes to compete as a junior welterweight.
“I’m definitely going back to the gym and I’m looking forward to getting one of those titles at 140,” said Broner.
Fight card, results
- Adrien Broner won. Jovanie Santiago by unanimous decision (115-112, 116-111, 117-110)
- Otto Wallin defeated Dominic Breazeale via unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 118-110)
- Robert Easter Jr. won. Ryan Martin by unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110, 117-111)
Broner vs Santiago Scorecard, live coverage
| Broner | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 115 |
| Santiago | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 112 |