Boxing News: ‘The Problem’ Backs Out Of Fight, Cites Mental Health Issues

There will be no boxing comeback for Adrien Broner, at least for now. “The Problem” was originally set to face Omar Figueroa on Aug. 20 but the 33-year-old pug withdrew due to alleged mental health struggles.

"Sorry to all my fans but #MentalHealth is real and I'm not about to play inside the ring," Broner wrote on Instagram. "I've watched a lot of people die playing with they boxing career and that is something I won't do."

Broner has held titles in four weight classes and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jovanie Santiago in February 2021. The fight was not spared from criticism with the scorecards allegedly not showing the close nature of the fight.

It was also Broner’s first fight since losing to Manny Pacquiao in January 2019.

In all, the decision illustrated the ups and downs of the native of Ohio. His career has been hampered by legal problems as well as his performance in the ring. It was an unfortunate turn of events for Broner who initially showed promise in boxing.

After starting his career 27-0, Broner has gone just 7-4-1 since December 2013.

With Broner’s decision to pull out of his fight with Figueroa, a likely scenario would be to see the former WBC lightweight champion face a different opponent on Saturday.

One name that has cropped up as a potential replacement is Sergey Lipinets. The former kickboxer from Kazakhstan once held the IBF light-welterweight title from 2017 to 2018 and is one of the undercards of Showtime Championship Boxing to face Carlos Manuel Portillo.

Lipinets last fought in April 2021, losing via knockout to Jaron Ennis in the sixth round of a 12-round bout.

For his part, Figueroa is also coming off a loss in his last fight which took place in May 2021. He lost to Abel Ramos in the sixth round scheduled for 12.