As Adrien Broner’s troubled past continued to haunt him, Manny Pacquiao has reached optimum shape and is taking a hands-on approach on flight plan specifics, two weeks away from their WBA welterweight championship fight.
Broner, aptly nicknamed “The Problem,” has been reportedly summoned to appear in courts in Atlanta and Ohio for sexual assault charges. Both were scheduled for Monday, according to TMZ Sports.
The website said the 29-year-old Broner, preparing for the biggest fight of his career where he will reportedly get paid $10 million, may choose to send a lawyer in Ohio where he is accused of forcing a woman to kiss him in a nightclub.
In Atlanta, he was charged with assaulting a woman in a shopping mall. In both cases, he was reportedly facing a total of five charges that carry the penalty of imprisonment.
Those are aside from traffic violations he incurred in Florida where he got arrested last month for not attending court hearings.
In Hollywood, Pacquiao’s chief trainer, Buboy Fernandez, told philboxing.com they were already in the late phase of their preparations for the senator’s Las Vegas comeback.
Pacquiao has started tapering off his sparring and is personally devising a plan against Broner, a former world champ who has lost his last two fights.
“Even he (Pacquiao) gives his input, with things we need to add on and things we need to cut,” Fernandez was quoted as saying.
Team Pacquiao is expected on Saturday to ride into Sin City where he last fought more than two years ago.
He scored a unanimous decision win in November 2016 over Jessie Vargas, whom Broner fought to a draw following a loss to Mikey Garcia.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s come-backing tactician, had earlier hinted at breaking down the American’s body and taking advantage of Broner’s penchant for throwing few punches.
Pacquiao said he would look for a knockout win, the better to follow up his sensational triumph over Lucas Matthysse last July in Kuala Lumpur.
But Broner has not been knocked out before and was only down on the floor twice in his career, both at the hands of heavy-hitter Marcos Maidana in 2013, eventually losing by unanimous decision.