Adrien Broner showed signs of life on Saturday in Miami.
The former four-division titleholder, who had fought only once in more than four years, battered journeyman Bill Hutchinson for most of a 10-round welterweight fight to win a near-shutout decision.
The official scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91.
The fight was intended to be Broner’s first step toward regaining his status as a world-class fighter.
That’s why Hutchinson (now 20-3-4, 9 KOs) was chosen as his opponent. The licensed lawyer from Pittsburgh has a decent record but has never fought on an elite level.
That became obvious quickly on Saturday, as the vastly superior Broner (35-4-1, 24 KOs) began pounding Hutchinson in the opening round and took in little in return.
That’s how it went round after round, Broner pummeling Hutchinson almost at will. The underdog never gave up but also never had a realistic chance of winning.
Hutchinson’s only accomplishment was surviving to hear the final bell, which was impressive given the number of punches he took.
Broner has now won back-to-back fights, after outpointing Jovanie Santiago in February of 2021.
That followed a loss, draw and loss to Mikey Garcia, Jessie Vargas and Manny Pacquiao in succession that knocked Broner from the ranks of relevant fighters.
The 33-year-old from Cincinnati, flush with confidence, is thinking big now that he has a successful evening under his belt.
“Anybody with a title,” he said when asked what’s next. “I see, what’s his name? Romello? Rolly [Romero]? I like the winner of Teofimo [Lopez] and Josh Taylor, and whoever has a belt. I want all the belts.
“I don’t want just a Loui belt or a Gucci belt, I want the WBA belt, the WBC belt the WBO belt and the IBF belt too.”
Don King, Broner’s new promoter, also has big plans for his fighter.
“We are not fooling around,” he said. “We are going to take care of business. And we got the WBC here who is going to get us a title fight. We are going to win that title, then defend that title, then unify the world, because he can do it.
“He was a four-time world champion before and now the best is yet to come.”