Dubai—Adrien “The Problem” Broner is hungry for a knockout.
The 29-year-old former four-division world champion, who was once seen as heir apparent to boxing great Floyd Mayweather, needs to flash his old form that took him to a blistering 27-0 record with 22 knockout wins.
But humiliating losses to Marcos Maidana, Shawn Porter and Mikey Garcia derailed his quest for greatness.
Now with a record of 38 fights — 33 wins, 24 by KO, 3 losses, 1 draw and 1 no contest — Broner’s last fight in 2018 ended in a draw against Jessie Vargas who earlier lost via unanimous decision in 2016 to the man Broner wants to knock out – legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.
Never at a loss for words though, Broner was quoted by World Boxing News as saying, “We’re boxers. We’re not afraid of nobody. We bleed the same, we walk the same, we put our pants on one at a time. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m trying to knock this guy out. I might laugh, I might play around but I’m trying to get him out of here. He’s been to sleep before. I haven’t.”
Broner will get his chance when he faces Pacquiao on Jan. 20 (Saturday, Jan. 19 in North America), for the WBA World Welterweight Championship at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas Nevada. Viewers in the US can purchase the pay-per-view action on Showtime with PPV starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
ABS-CBN Europe, Middle East and North Africa Managing Director Arnie Garcia is proud to announce that ABS-CBN’s flagship international channel – TFC (The Filipino Channel) – got the exclusive rights together with Showtime to carry live via PPV the Pacquiao-Broner fight in the Middle East.
“We at ABS-CBN EMEA are very pleased to share with all boxing fans that we are carrying exclusively the Pacquiao-Broner title fight on TFC Online or tfc.tv and TFC on OSN Satellite in the entire Middle East, on TFC on eLife and E-Vision on cable in UAE, on TFC on Ooredoo and Mozaic TV cable in Qatar, and at Reel Cinemas in UAE. We are committed to bringing the best of the Filipino in sports entertainment to our viewers in the region,” said Garcia.
In 2015, TFC was the exclusive distributor of the Mayweather-Pacquiao welterweight world championship unification fight on all the media platforms in the Middle East.
Broner is facing the champion, Pacquiao, who is embarking on his 70th fight at the age of 40. The world’s only 8-weight division champion, Pacquiao is returning to the ring with a record of 69 fights, 60 wins, 39 by KO, 7 losses and 2 draws. He was 40 pounds lighter when he started his professional career at the age of 17 in the flyweight division. He is now a senator in the Philippines who knocked the daylights out of Lucas Matthysse in 2018 to become world welterweight champion again.
Broner is up against a living legend. He knows that. The betting odds show that. Pacquiao as the future boxing hall-of-famer is a favorite at -300, Broner at +230. Broner is counting on their 11-year difference in age and on the fact that Pacquiao has so much more to lose in this fight, so the bigger pressure is on the champ.
t will be a very interesting evening in Las Vegas this big January fight night on the ring.
To view the Pacquiao-Broner fight in the Middle East, visit http://emea.kapamilya.com/