Porter talks Adrien Broner vs. Omar Figueroa

Boxingnews24.com

By Allan Fox: Shawn Porter has some major concerns about whether 4-time world champion Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) can come back from his latest loss to Mikey Garcia at 140 to turn his career around to defeat Omar Figueroa Jr. (27-0-1, 19 KOs) and Amir Khan.

Porter sees Broner, 28, as being a ticking time bomb outside of the ring that can explode at any time to disrupt his career. Porter feels that physically, Broner has all the attributes needed for him to be a very good fighter, but mentally he lacks the focus to stay dedicated enough for him measure up to the physical side.

Broner cannot afford to lose to Figueroa or anyone in his next fight if he wants to keep his career alive. Broner’s one-sided loss to Mikey Garcia was a horrible last July. The fight showed that Broner is not the fighter that he was 4 to 5 years ago. He looked like he’s shot. It doesn’t help Broner that he’s letting his weight get out of control in between fights. He looked fat before he started his last training camp to get ready for his last match against Mikey. Taking all that weight off couldn’t have helped him. Broner still likely would have lost the fight to Mikey though, as he didn’t have the power, hand speed or the mobility to beat him.

Porter likes the idea of Broner facing Amir Khan, as he sees that as a 50-50 fight if it can get made. But as far as the match against Figueroa, Porter thinks Broner will need to be totally focused for that one. There’s talk of Broner facing Figueroa potentially in his next fight. Broner has been out of the ring for the last 6 months since his 12 round unanimous decision loss to Mikey Garcia on July 29 last year. Broner needs to have a fight scheduled soon for him not to miss out on an entire year of his career.

“I don’t know,” Porter said to Fighthype, when asked if he thinks Adrien Broner can ever comeback from his losses to turn his career around. “For some fighters, it’s physical. For some fighters it’s mental. He’s a fighter that has every physical attribute to be very good. What seems to be holding him back is his mental focus. If he handles the mental side of boxing, then the rest will take care of itself. When you say 3rd or 4th time, it’s like a ticking time bomb. Now you’re just waiting for it to happen and for it to explode. I’m optimistic he’ll get it together, and we’ll see in the ring against Amir Khan, and you’ll see one of the best fighters you’ve ever seen,” said Porter.

Khan is making a comeback on April 21 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Khan’s promoter Eddie Hearn has already said that he won’t be fighting Broner for his first fight back in April. However, he does say that Broner is a possibility for Khan in the summer. It’ll depend on how well Khan looks in his fight in April, and whether a fight against Broner can be negotiated properly. The fight that Hearn doesn’t want to be ruined is a Khan vs. Kell Brook match-up, and he wants to make that one in December of this year. If Broner looks beatable in winning his next fight, then he might have a chance of fighting Khan in the summer. Broner’s management needs to get him scheduled to fight soon if he wants to be available to fight Khan in the summer. It won’t be good for Broner if he’s still no fought by the summer, which is when Khan plans on fighting for the second time this year.

Figueroa, 28, stopped fighting for 1 ½ years after his narrow 12 round unanimous decision win over Antonio DeMarco on December 12, 2015. Figueroa came back last year to defeat former 2 division world champion Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero by a 3rd round knockout on July 15 in an impressive performance. That was the best Figueroa had looked in a fight in 4 years since his 12 round unanimous decision win over Nihito Arakawa on July 27, 2013. Broner hasn’t looked as good as Figueroa did last year since his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision win over John Molina Jr. in March 2015. That was over 2 years ago. Broner has looked bad since then in losing to Porter and Mikey Garcia by one-sided 12 round decisions. Broner’s only wins in the last 2 years have come against Molina Jr., Khabib Allakhverdiev, Ashley Theophane and Adrian Granados.

“Omar [Figueroa] is big, he’s strong, and he knows what he’s doing and he’s got it together,” said Porter. “So yeah, it could be a dangerous fight for him. Definitely, whoever,” said Porter in saying that Broner is going to need to have it together mentally and physically to beat a fighter like Figueroa or anyone above him in the top 10 rankings at 147.“Anyone above, especially in the welterweight division,” said Porter. “Top 6, top 7, possibly top 8, you’ve got to have your stuff together,” said Porter.