The date has been decided for Adrien Broner’s comeback.
On August 20 in Florida, the former multi-division champion will face Omar Figueroa Jr. The fight has been planned for months; on June 2, Broner announced that the date would be July 23 in Chicago.
The broadcast for Broner’s return to the ring will be handled by Showtime. Since winning a contentious unanimous decision over Jovanie Santiago in February 2021, which was Broner’s first fight in more than two years, he hasn’t engaged in combat.
Broner was formerly regarded as one of the sport’s most promising young fighters, but his popularity has recently declined. He was defeated by Mikey Garcia and Manny Pacquiao in unanimous decisions in 2017 and 2019, respectively, with a draw against Jessie Vargas sandwiched in between in 2018.
His victory over Santiago was by no means his best effort. He did not throw a single punch in the opening round, but he still prevailed on two of the three scorecards. The people perceived the opponent as being stronger than the boxer, hence it was mostly a cautious, lethargic performance.
Outside of the ring, Broner has also battled legal troubles. He was ordered by a judge in 2019 to compensate a woman for sexually abusing her in a Cleveland nightclub in 2018. For breaking the conditions of his probation resulting from that incident, Broner was sent to jail in October.
With a DUI charge from 2018 and an arrest in 2019 for drag racing his automobile on a highway, Figueroa has had his share of run-ins with the law. A battle versus Broner was arranged less than three months before the DUI charge. Figueroa withdrew from the contest after becoming hurt during practice.
“Sincerely, the last five years of my life have been a haze,” Figueroa said on Saturday to FightHype.com. “There was a lot going on and a lot I was dealing with, but as I said, I’m in a much better place now, so that’s why I’m excited to see how I do now that I don’t have as much baggage to carry around.”
He added: “I feel like it’s a great opportunity for both of us. Like you said, it’s a crossroads fight for each of us.”
