Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on DAZN.com.
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Although Adrien Broner has said that he won’t return to a boxing ring for anything less than $10 million, he might be willing to come out of “retirement” for a fight against one of Golden Boy Promotions’ fastest-rising stars in Vergil Ortiz Jr.
And all it took was a post on Instagram to begin drumming up interest.
The image in the post is from six years ago, according to Ortiz. In his post, he says that he has always had a lot of respect for Broner since the former champion took a photo with him when Mike Tyson wouldn’t. Back then, Ortiz was a 16-year-old who was fresh off of winning his division in the 2013 Junior Olympics. Ortiz’s professional career has taken off since then. The now-22-year-old has amassed a 15-0 record, with all of his wins coming by way of knockout.
A showdown between Ortiz and Samuel Vargas in March was scrapped because COVID-19 shuttered the entire sports industry. As the boxing world begins to slowly inch its way back to a semblance of normalcy, Ortiz decided to take the time to pay Broner respect while also calling him out.
“Who would like to see this fight?” he asked.
At the time this article was published, the post had more than 7,000 likes and plenty of comments, with fans mostly offering favorable responses. Among them was Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, who offered a simple comment in support of his fighter:
“Easy dinero.”
The reply caught the eye of Broner, who bristled in his response.
“Hell of a pic bro and I f–k with you too @vergilortiz. [B]ut @oscardelahoya I will come out of retirement and smoke yo boy since you co-signing pics and after the fight I got a ounce of soft for you. #StillAdjustingToFame,” he posted.
Broner, 30, is 0-2-1 in his last three fights dating to 2017. He remains a draw because of his antics outside the ring rather than his performance inside the squared circle. Despite his lack of success, Broner has given Premier Boxing Champions an ultimatum of paying him $10 million to get back into the ring or he’ll retire.
A fight between Broner and Ortiz is attractive but would be met with promotional politics. It’s not impossible, but it seems like nothing more than a pipe dream at the moment.