Amidst The Hoopla, Broner Stops Theophane

Last night at the D.C. Armory in a fight that aired on Spike TV, Adrien “The Problem” Broner faced Ashley Theophane. After a week where Broner made the news for all the wrong reasons, it was good to finally see the two get down to business.

The first round was a relatively even round, with Theophane and Broner both winning it with at least one judge. Theophane was not as aggressive as he had promised, and Broner looked bigger, stronger and faster. Broner used those advantages to win the early rounds, but Theophane was holding his own.

The fifth round saw Broner tire a bit and Theophane started to work the body better, moving in and out with his awkward style. The fifth round went to Theophane with one of the judges, and round 6 and 7 went to Theophane on two of the judges scorecards.

Theophane appeared to be closing the gap and he was now pressuring what appeared to be a tiring Broner.

Round eight saw Broner come out with renewed aggression as he caught Theophane with several good shots that stopped Theophane’s forward progress. Entering round nine, Theophane was still hurt and Broner had him back pedaling again as he went in for the kill. Broner was throwing a lot of sloppy punches, but Theophane was playing defense and backing away. Broner closed the distance again and landed an overhand right. The referee then stopped the fight with Theophane still on his feet. Theophane protested the stoppage, but his protests were moot as Adrien Broner was declared the winner by TKO at the 1:10 mark of round 9.

Overall it was not the impressive performance that Broner would have hoped for. The promotion released a total attendance of 8172 people in the building, announcing it as a sell out. Much more to come on this event here at The Sweet Science.

Check out The Boxing Channel’s review of the show featuring former WBC World Light Heavyweight champion Montell Griffin, who attended the fights live. Check it out.