They don’t really care for boxer Adrien Broner, listed as former two-time world champion, but local fans do bother to ask about Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent. They find it their duty to have an idea if Pacquiao would have trouble or another punching picnic in his next fight.
There’s been nothing definite and official about the Pacquiao-Broner fight, supposedly scheduled in Las Vegas on Jan. 19.
Premier Boxing Champions, however, said there would be solid details about the fight starting next week.
At the wet market sports hub in Mandaluyong City, Pacquiao fans wonder out loud if Broner is a corned beef brand or an animal feed.
So far, what has filtered out of the haze is Broner’s stormy personality; he has been pictured as a difficult person, a nasty competitor.
He has been listed to have suffered a total of three losses, but with a respectable number of knockouts.
Pacquiao himself has not said anything about Broner. But veteran promoter Bob Arum was quick to inform the bout was nothing but silly fantasy. Arum also said the alleged sum Pacquiao would get—$25 million—readily pushes the bout down and out.
The thing is Broner has generated interest and attention since being announced as Pacquia’s next foe.
Yesterday, he was reportedly involved in a tense scene at the airport where he allegedly had a shouting bout with guards before boarding.
Broner, thick-chested, had a menacing big beard; he wore a flashy earring, like a pirate.
Anyway, in his last fight against erstwhile WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse, Pacquiao made a hot sales pitch when he announced outright he should be ranked the underdog in the championship staged in Kuala Lumpur last July.
For his part, fight legend Oscar De La Hoya, mainly responsible for setting up the WBA title fight, said Pacquiao-Matthysse would be a roaring 50-50 contest.
Pacquiao-Matthysse was a forgettable, tasteless mismatch.
Boxing guru and respected analyst Teddy Atlas was curt. He said Matthysse shamefully refused to fight.
Matthysse refused to mix it up while willfully sinking to his knees, without properly getting hit or hurt.
At least, there’s nobody crying that Broner would be super fit and ready to challenge Pacquiao.
Freddie Roach said Broner can box, but will be at a great disadvantage due to Pacquiao’s incredible training regimen.
How mean can Broner be, Roach did not say, although the shouting incident with airport guards would show Broner packed meanness and menace, unlike Matthysse.
Meanwhile, Jesse Vargas, whom Pacquiao decisioned in Las Vegas in 2016, has announced Broner would be at a great disadvantage against Pacquiao.
“Manny Pacquiao is on another level,” Vargas said. “He’s fast, explosive, he’s very versatile and boxes with different angles.”
Vargas had fought and drew with the 29-year-old Broner.
Broner could explode anytime to deliver the necessary fireworks.
Is he cooking up a pirate’s bomb? Or is the fight pushing through at all?