Adrien Broner and Omar Figueroa will fight for their boxing on August 20 in Hollywood, Florida (Showtime).
Broner and Figueroa were both once elite fighters who fell on hard times in their early 30s, as neither had won a meaningful fight in years. They desperately need a good result to start the reconstruction process.
Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) was once a leading figure in the sport, winning four titles at the age of 25. However, “The Problem” has a problem: He’s dated. becomes less formidable when moving with increased weight.
He only won 7-4-1 in the last 12 matches. He had a unanimous decision win over Jovanie Santiago last February, a year and a half ago.
The 32-year-old from Cincinnati wants to make a statement on August 20.
“I went in there to try to stop Figueroa,” he said. “I will fight him and keep getting him out of there. What I expect from him is the same terrible Figueroa we have always seen. He will try to make it a tough fight.
“Every fighter is different, but I don’t think he will be hard to beat. So I’ll see you again on August 20th.”
Figueroa (28-2-1, 19 KOs) held a version of the lightweight title in 2014 before moving into the weight division. The Weslaco, Texas product, never competed for the main title again and hasn’t fought often in recent years because of physical and emotional problems. He’s only had three games since 2017.
Plus, Brandon Figueroa’s brother has suffered a one-sided loss in his last two games, a broad decision against Yordenis Ugas in July 2019 and a sixth-round goal loss to Abel Ramos. in May of last year.
Those are brain games. He and Broner will fight in the junior weight class.
Figueroa, 32, said: “I am so excited to be entering the next phase of my life and career, especially now that my mental health is paramount in everything I do. . happened to me.
“Now I can focus 100% on my boxing career and I can’t wait to be back in the ring on August 20th.”
Also on this card, Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs) will defend the WBA lightweight featherweight title against Hector Garcia (15-0, 10 KOs). And Alberto Puello (20-0, 10 KOs) and Batyr Akhmedov (9-1, 8 KOs) will fight for the junior WBA title recently vacated by Josh Taylor.
