Adrien Broner makes the unanimous decision on Jovanie Santiago for the first victory in four years

Two years away from his last appearance, former title holder Adrien Broner, four division, returned on Saturday in a welterweight header move that felt much like an Adrien Broner fight.

Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) was not active enough to impress and needed a late rally to reach a disputed unanimous decision on the unannounced Jovanie Santiago (14-1-1, 10 KOs) save in a Premier Boxing Champion card from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. In true Broner fashion, his post-fight interview was also more exciting and colorful than the 12 rounds that preceded.

Despite chasing 207 to 98 through the light Santiago, the three judges, according to CompuBox, favored the heavier disk shots of the 31-year-old Broner by 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110. CBS Sports also had it 115-112 for Broner, who took advantage of the fact that Santiago was beaten by referee Arthur Mercante Jr. a point moored to close Round 4, although both fighters struck blows after the clock.

“It was cool. I want to go home and really watch my fight. I haven’t fought in two years,” Broner said. “I felt good and I felt like I won the fight. It felt like I hit him with the jab, honestly. It feels good to raise my hand.”

Despite Broner’s comments, his pitch was largely undefeated until the very end. He mostly relied on left brackets and short right-handers in a fight that was not as close on paper as the gap in talent between the two was given.

Santiago, 31, takes a big step in class in his first fight outside the Dominican Republic or his native Puerto Rico. Broner, meanwhile, has not fought since a lifeless loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2019 in their pay-per-view match before undergoing a layoff containing legal problems, alcohol abuse and weight gain.

“I have to go home and judge my performance, but I didn’t really warm up that much,” Broner said. “Later in the fight, I warmed up and started to feel good. I knew the mother would be difficult because he had it [undefeated record]. I knew he would fight like a homeless guy going for a sandwich. [But] I came in and did the work. ‘

After the fight, Broner called out both Showtime and journalist Steve Farhood, who won the fight in Santiago’s favor as the unofficial judge of the broadcast. Santiago, however, had no problem with the decision.

“No, that’s not surprising to me. Source did a great job in there,” Santiago said. “The decision could have gone both ways. It’s not that I thought I lost the fight, but the fight could have gone both ways. He fought tremendously and that comes down to the decision.

“Goat lovers know who I am now, but to win this fight, I think I needed a little more pressure and the fight would have gone my way.”

Broner seems to be actively giving away the middle rounds by giving up his sting and not making Santiago pay for the entry and the body. But Broner woke up in the second half and visibly injured Santiago with a left hook in Round 8 which almost made him touch the canvas with his glove to prevent him from sagging.

In round 9, Broner landed a left hook to open a cut under Santiago’s left eye, although the heavy underdog outscored Broner in the final round.

After the fight, Broner suggested that it would be the means to keep him active as a fighter to keep him out of trouble.

‘I want to say to [PBC founder] Al Haymon in [Showtime Sports president] Mr. [Stephen] Espinoza, keep me in the ring, “Broner said. If I fight regularly, maybe mate [Santiago] would not have lasted. But just keep me going and maybe I will not fight things and I can do what I have to do.

“It’s a different AB. What happened was that I only had $ 13 in this maternal struggle. We turned it around to about $ 13 million, so many things are going to change. I’m not going to lie. For the the rest of the weekend we’ll turn over bottles and have sex, but I’ll go to the gym again after the weekend. ‘

The fight was originally scheduled for £ 140, but was raised to the welterweight limit on Thursday after both fighters admitted they were having problems. In the future, Broner expects to compete as a junior welterweight.

“I’m definitely going back to the gym and I’m looking forward to getting one of the titles at 140,” Broner said.

Fighting card, results

• Defeat Adrien Broner. Jovanie Santiago by unanimous decision (115-112, 116-111, 117-110)
• Otto Wallin defeats Dominic Breazeale by unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 118-110)
• Robert Easter Jr. defeat Ryan Martin by unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110, 117-111)

Broner vs. Santiago scorecard, direct coverage