Broner On Fighting Redkach: I’m Gonna F–k Him Up; He Been Begging For It!

Adrien Broner is more than willing to give Ivan Redkach what he wants.

Broner told Showtime’s Brian Custer on the newest episode of his podcast, “The Last Stand,” he is interested facing Redkach when he returns to the ring. The 31-year-old Broner has not fought since losing a 12-round unanimous decision to Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao in January 2019, when they headlined a Showtime Pay-Per-View event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“Man, I would love to go in there and stop him,” Broner told Custer regarding Redkach in episode that debuted late Monday night. “It’d be a good fight. You know, especially me coming off, I’ve been off for what, two years? I don’t care if we fight. I mean, as long as my money right, we gonna have a hell of a fight. I’m gonna f–k him up, though. He asking for it. He been begging for it.”

Ukraine’s Redkach repeatedly has referenced boxing Broner in posts on social media recently.

Stephen Espinoza, Showtime’s president of sports and event programming, told BoxingScene.com recently that he expects Cincinnati’s Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs, 1 NC) to fight on that network sometime in January.

“We’re in the process of talking about opponents,” Espinoza said. “It’s been two years since he’s fought, so we’re in discussions about the opponent. But it will be somebody credible.”

The 34-year-old Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs, 1 NC) lost a 12-round unanimous decision to former two-division champion Danny Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) in his most recent action. Showtime televised Garcia-Redkach as the main event of a tripleheader January 25 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The polarizing Broner historically has drawn stronger ratings for Showtime than most boxers that headline cards on that premium cable network.

Whomever the four-division champion battles next, Broner is expected to fight at a catch weight somewhere between the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, at which he challenged Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), and the junior welterweight maximum of 140. The Garcia-Redkach bout was contested at a contracted limit of 147 pounds.

When Custer asked him if he has been training, Broner, who is notorious for gaining a lot of weight between bouts, laughed and replied, “I mean, I ain’t too big right now.” 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.