Fast Results from Connecticut: Broner, Wallin, and Easter Win Dull Fights

In the media kit for tonight’s PBC boxing card at the Mohegan Sun, Stephen Espinoza, the President of Sports and Event Programming for Showtime, called Adrien Broner a must-see attraction. Added shameless promoter Tom Brown: “he’s never in a boring fight.”

To Broner’s credit, however, he’s learned the art of winning rounds without throwing many punches. He was credited with landing only 98 tonight in his 12-round match with Jovanie Santiago, an obscure 31-year-old Puerto Rican making his first U.S. appearance. And yet  Broner (34-4-1) won comfortably on the cards, prevailing by scores of 115-112, 116-111, and a mysterious 117-110 by judge Peter Hary. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr seemingly favored Broner too. He deducted a point from the Puerto Rican for throwing a punch at the end of round four, a curious call.

The 12-round match was originally slated for 140 pounds but boosted to 147 when Broner who was returning to the ring after a 25-month absence was unable to make the weight. Broner was previously a title-holder in four weight classes from 130 to 147, but his last victory before tonight came four years ago this month with a split decision over Adrian Granados.

Heading into the fight, Broner predicted that he would be a world champion “again, again, again, and again” and that he was “coming to get all the belts.” He also said, “I want somebody to bring out the best in me and that’s why I picked Jovanie Santiago.”

It was the first pro loss for the hard-trying Santiago (14-1-1) who had the deck stacked against him.

Co-Feature

In a 12-round heavyweight contest, Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin (22-1) showed that his feisty performance against Tyson Fury was no fluke with a one-sided, albeit rather monotonous, decision over Dominic Breazeale. At the pre-fight press conference, Wallin, 30, asserted that he was faster than the former college quarterback and that proved true. The 35-year-old Breazeale was slow of foot and his punches were often wide. The Swede slowed down late in the fight, but by then Breazeale needed a knockout to win. The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Breazeale, who missed all of 2020 and was making his first start since getting starched by Deontay Wilder, saw his record decline to 20-3. He has a future as a TV boxing analyst and it would be wise for him to forego further fights and jump into that line of work with both feet.

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In a predictably ho-hum affair, Toledo’s Robert Easter Jr (23-1-1) won a unanimous 12-round decision over Ryan Martin (24-2). The scorecards read 117-111 and 118-110 twice.

The rangy Easter controlled the distance, keeping the fight on the outside, and Martin had no “plan B.” Easter is a solid technician with a high ring IQ, which is a nice way of saying that he doesn’t have a fan-friendly style. His 2019 fight with Rances Barthelemy, a 12-round draw, was one of the biggest stinkers in recent memory.

Off-TV

Fighters from Argentina haven’t fared well in American rings, and that includes Juan Jose Velasco who was 0-2 in his two previous stateside appearances, getting stopped by Regis Prograis and Mario Barrios. But the third time was a charm for the 33-year-old Argentine who won a 10-round split decision over Brooklyn’s Zachary Ochoa (21-2). Ochoa came in strong in the 10^th, but it was too little, too late. The scores were 97-93, 96-94, and 94-96.

In a 10-round bantamweight contest, Cincinnati’s Rau’shee Warren, a three-time Olympian and former world bantamweight title-holder, scored a unanimous decision over St. Louis southpaw Sharone Carter. The scores were 97-93 and 98-92 twice. Warren, 34 improved to 18-3 (4). It was Carter’s fourth defeat in 16 pro starts.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / Showtime

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