Adrien Broner vs Jovanie Santiago Preview Feb. 20th
After a two-year layoff, Adrien Broner of Cincinnati, Ohio returns to the ring at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut this Saturday, Feb. 20th when he takes on unbeaten Jovanie Santiago of Puerto Rico. The 12-round junior welterweight bout will be shown live on Showtime in America while fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 2. Broner’s last outing resulted in a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in January, 2019 majority draw with Santiago stopped Juan Zegarra in the first round just two two months ago on Dec. 16.
Broner vs Santiago Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jovanie Santiago +550
- Adrien Broner -800
My Pick
The 31-year-old Broner is a former four-division world champion at junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. He’ll climb through the ropes with a record of 33-4-1 with 24 Kos. Broner suffered his other three defeats at the hands of Mikey Garcia in 2017, Marcos Maidana of Argentina in 2013 and fellow American Shawn Porter back in June of 2015, who all beat him by 12-round unanimous decisions in the welterweight division.
He also fought to a 12-round draw with Jessie Vargas in April, 2018 which makes him winless in his last three outings. Broner possesses enough talent to be an elite boxer, but his maturity level, attitude and work habits could all do with a lot of improvement as well as his behaviour outside of the ring. He keeps promising fans he’s changed, but they’ll have to wait until Saturday night to judge for themselves.
Broner stands just over 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 69-inch reach and possesses excellent speed and good power under as well as plenty of pro experience. He’s fought 235 rounds since turning pro in 2008 and has a current knockout ratio of 61.5 per cent. Broner’s beaten some good opponents over the years such as Daniel Ponce De Leon, Adrian Granados, Jason Litzau, Eloy Perez, Vicente Escobedo, Antonio DeMarco, Gavin Rees, Paulie Malignaggi, Ashley Theoplane, Carlos Molina, John Molina Jr., Emmanuel Taylor and Khabib Allakhverdiev.
However, when stepping up in class against Porter, Garcia, Vargas and Pacquiao Broner has fallen short. He may have plenty of problems outside of the ring due to his idiotic actions, but he’s still one of the best boxers inside the squared circle when he’s at his best and can’t be taken lightly by anybody, especially Santiago.
And speaking of Santiago, he enters the ring ropes with a near-perfect record of 14-0-1 with 10 Kos. He’s also 31 years old so the time is ripe if he’s going to make a move in the rankings and hope for a title shot. He made his pro debut in 2007 and has boxed just 62 rounds. That’s partly due to his 10 knockouts and partly due to his relative inactivity over the years.
Santiago stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 70-inch reach which gives him a one-inch edge in both height and reach on Broner. He’s got plenty of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. Santiago’s lone pro blemish is a four-round draw with Marco Padilla back in 2008. In fact, he didn’t enter the ring again until 2014 after that fight. Santiago has fought all of his bouts in either Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.
He traveled to the Dominican Republic for his last outing against against Zegarra in December. He beat veteran DeMarcus Corley via 10-round unanimous decision in 2017 for the vacant Universal Boxing Federation International Super Lightweight Title and then added the vacant WBA Fedelatin belt by stopping Gustavo Vittori in the ninth round just over a year later. He also beat Ivan Cano by a seventh-round technical decision in between.
Prediction…
The difference here could come down to work ethic and heart and this is usually where Broner lets himself and his fans down. He’s taking on a boxer who reportedly spends his time between bouts as a tow-truck driver and gardener so a win here won’t propel him back to instant contender status either. Santiago has a puncher’s chance just like Mauricio Lara last week when he stopped Josh Warrington. Don’t be surprised by any outcome here since Broner’s unpredictable on many occasions. However, with his pedigree and experience I’m expecting Broner to somehow come out on top.
Broner’s experience should be the difference.
Play: Broner -800 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Adrien Broner betting • Jovanie santiago betting