Adrien Broner Set To Return Feb 20 Against Undefeated Jovanie Santiago

Now that his legal issues are behind him, or so it seems, we finally have the return of four-division world champion Adrien Broner scheduled.

He is set to face undefeated super-lightweight talent Jovanie Santiago on February 20. Their bout will headline the Showtime Championship Boxing tripleheader live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

The broadcast will also feature a heavyweight bout between Otto Wallin (21-1) and Dominic Breazeale (20-2), as well as a lightweight bout between former IBF champion Robert Easter Jr (22-1-1) and Ryan Martin (24-1).

Broner versus Santiago will be contested at or around the light-welterweight limit of 140 lbs. This will be Broner’s first fight in over two years, 25 months to be exact, as he took a hiatus after losing to Manny Pacquiao in January of 2019.

Actually, Broner has been winless in his last three bouts, having lost the unanimous decision to Pacquiao, as well as losing a unanimous decision to Mikey Garcia, and going to a draw with Jessie Vargas.

The last time Broner’s hand was raised was three years ago, where he defeated Adrian Granados via split decision over the coarse of ten rounds back in February of 2017. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

It looks like they’re easing him back into it, giving him an undefeated, but inexperienced opponent. Santiago comes into the fight with a record of 14-0-1, having fought as recently as December 2020, where he walked away the victor via KO over a 16-0 opponent.

Santiago has actually fought three times since we last saw Broner, winning all three. Of his 14 victories, ten come via knockout with four decisions. Broner comes into the fight with a record of 33-4-1 (1 NC), 24 of those victories coming via knockout with nine decisions.

Broner is one of those athletes that had all the potential in the entire world, and it seemed as if he’d just lost it and gone off the rails, wasting all of that potential. He really could’ve went down as one of the best ever if the fame didn’t get to him.

It’s great to see Broner finally getting back into the groove of being a fighter, he’s still just 31-years-old, like his opponent. He still has some time to right his wrongs and go out on some more beautiful performances.

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