Adrien Broner will headline PBC Boxing Friday night on Spike despite currently having two warrants out for his arrest. Get the latest on this story here.
On Friday night, Adrien Broner headlines the latest PBC Boxing on Spike card as he faces Ashley Theophane. As we reported earlier this week, Broner is currently wanted in Ohio on felony assault charges stemming from an incident outside of a Cincinnati bowling alley in January. These charges led to some questions as to if Friday night’s fight would go on as planned.
However, it has now been confirmed that Broner will be allowed to fight Friday night, and is not in danger of being arrested before the fight. Ring Magazine spoke to representatives from the police department who clarified:
“The warrant is just only for Ohio, for the local area here, so it does not affect his ability to be in other places,” the police source said. “The charges were brought forth locally here for Ohio. The location was for Ohio.”
Because of this, police in Washington DC (where Broner is currently in final preparations for the fight) will not be involved, and Broner is free and clear until he returns to Ohio. Police expect him to turn himself in at that time.
Attorney Chris Finney represents Christopher Carson, the victim in the alleged assault. Finney spoke to Ring and questioned why Broner would be allowed to fight:
“I think that’s a question for the boxing commission: Do they want someone like this representing their industry, their profession? To me it’s a significant issue”
“Everybody is entitled to due process but there’s a whole ‘nother issue: Under what circumstances will Mr. Broner’s boxing license be suspended or revoked? I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know boxing at all but I do know that years ago Mike Tyson’s (license) got suspended (in Nevada for twice biting Evander Holyfield) for a while so that’s what governs whether he’s allowed to fight or not. Again, I’m not out to ruin the guy’s life or prevent him from boxing or anything else. I just want him to stop slugging people. I want him to compensate my client for his injuries.”
As for Broner himself, the fighter has remained mostly silent on the issue, first telling ESPN only “I’m good” when questioned about the charges. At the final press conference he was again asked about the impact of this issue, and again refused to go into detail (via Bad Left Hook):
“To be honest, I ain’t come here to talk today. I wasn’t even gonna come to this bullshit today, to be honest. The fight already sold. There’s about 6-to-10 tickets left. My work’s done. Now it’s time to get on the scale. I see this guy Friday. I ain’t used to fightin’ on Friday. He probably is, on FOX and Friday Night Fights and shit. But I ain’t used to that shit. But as long as it’s payday, it’s good.”
PBC Boxing Broner vs. Theophane airs this Friday, April 1 live on Spike TV at 9:00 p.m ET. Bloody Elbow will have live fight night coverage.