MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 18: Adrien Broner gets taped up prior to his workout for the media at the 5th Street Gym on December 18, 2018 in Miami, Florida. Broner is scheduled to fight Manny Pacquiao on January 19th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michael Reaves/Getty Images/AFP
LAS VEGAS—The narrative was clear from the start.
Manny Pacquiao comes in as the clean-cut established megastar, while Adrien Broner plays the part of a menacing bad boy from the hood.
But if you ask the 29-year-old Broner, he wants nothing to do with that hype.
“I’m me man, no matter what I will always be me,” Broner told sportswriters on Tuesday night. “This fight would definitely be a big statement in my career. It will erase everything that happened.”
A fascinating character even by boxing’s standards, Broner didn’t lack confidence when fielding questions regarding his WBA welterweight title bout against Pacquiao on Saturday here.
What was his best performance so far in his career?
“That’ll have to be after this win over Pacquiao,” he said with a straight face. “Man I’m gonna be the first person to turn Vegas into one big block party.”
All he needs, according to Broner, is one flush punch to get the job done.
“But we definitely came to get the victory,” he said.
Broner will go for the knockout punch with little regard for Pacquiao’s ability to also end the night quickly like he did against Lucas Matthysse.
“I don’t have a (expletive). He had a knockout. All I know is that he got a knockout that time,” said Broner.
Broner appeared tired of being tagged as a cautionary tale for big-time boxers who have gone bad.
“Here’s the start of another chapter in my book,” said Broner. “You know it’s only up from here. After this win, I’ll put my name up where it should have been.”