Adrien Broner has never been knocked out, and he has never fought a pro fight in the UK. Both of these things could possibly change this year if Eddie Hearn can work his magic and lure Broner over to these shores to fight red-hot welterweight star-in-the-making Conor Benn. On Saturday night, after his short, explosive and very impressive 80-second stoppage win over the tough and seasoned Samuel Vargas, 24-year-old Benn called out a slew of names – Amir Khan, Shawn Porter and Broner.
Khan has since said, “maybe, if he had some belts,” in essence pouring cold water on what could have been something of a domestic super-fight. Porter seems to be too big a step for the 18-0(12) Benn at this stage, but then again who knows? The sky does seem to be the limit for the son of the great, the utterly thrilling “Dark Destroyer.” Playing match-maker, I’d love to see Broner, the ultimate bad boy, agree to get it on with Benn here in the UK this summer.
31-year-old Broner (he turns 32 in July) has seemingly said goodbye to his days as a 140 pound fighter, the effort at making the weight too much for “The Problem.” And in terms of big and lucrative fights, Broner doesn’t seem to have too much on his table right about now. Maybe Hearn could offer Broner big money and indeed lure him over to fight Benn. It would be a big fight, an interesting fight and, with the collective hyping abilities of both the former four-weight champ and the contender who feels he is just about ready for anybody, a colourful and trash-talk laden fight. Imagine the build-up for this one!
Benn seems to be the real deal, at least he looks the part. Broner, 34-4-1(24) remains a big name, he knows plenty of tricks, he can still fight, and of course he has never been stopped. Benn wants to go up another level following the blast-out of Vargas, and Broner might not have anywhere else to go to collect a nice payday. I don’t know about you, but I think Broner-Benn makes a whole lot of sense. And it would be one good fight.
Who wins? Your opinion may well come down to the answer to two questions: How much has Broner got left? Is Benn as good as he looked to be on Saturday night? Benn has shown boxing ability (see his November 2020 decision win over Sebastian Formella), and he has shown heart (see his up from the floor win over Cedrick Peynaud) and he leaves no stone unturned in the gym.
It’s possible Broner, winner of just one of his last four fights, has never heard of Benn. But this could change. Can Hearn entice Broner into taking this fight?