Adrien Broner returns from a two-year hiatus to face Puerto Rican Jovanie Santiago on Saturday in Uncasville, Conn., on Showtime.
ADRIEN BRONER (33-4-1, 24 KOs)
VS. JOVANIE SANTIAGO (14-0-1, 10 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM9zTdzI98k
- Date: Saturday, Feb. 20
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in the show)
- Where: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
- TV/Stream: Showtime
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Broner 6-1 favorite
- Also on the card: Robert Easter vs. Ryan Martin, junior welterweights; Otto Wallin vs. Dominic Breazeale, heavyweights
- Prediction: Broner KO 7
- Background: Broner garners the attention of a elite athlete but the truth is he hasn’t had success for years. The four-division titleholder hasn’t won a fight since he narrowly outpointed Adrian Granados in February 2017, four years ago. He is 0-2-1 since then, although the losses came against Mikey Garcia (140 pounds) in July 2017 and Manny Pacquiao (147) in January of 2019. He drew with Jessie Vargas between those setbacks. The good news for Broner is that he’s only 31. And he will be fighting Santiago at 140 pounds, at which he won’t be giving away size and strength advantages. Broner will have been out of the ring since the Pacquiao fight, which was more than two years ago. Santiago is a 31-year-old unknown from Puerto Rico. He has a gaudy record but has faced no one of note. His highest-profile victory might’ve been a decision over a faded DeMarcus Corley in 2017. He has won 12 consecutive fights since a draw in his third outing. On the undercard, heavyweights Otto Wallin and Dominic Breazeale hope to position themselves for a title shot. Wallin (21-1, 14 KOs) bounced back from his loss to titleholder Tyson Fury by stopping Travis Kauffman in August. Breazeale (20-2, 18 KOs) is coming off a first-round knockout loss against then-champion Deontay Wilder in May 2019. The Los Angeles-area fighter has failed in two attempts to win a major title.
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