Former multi-division world champion Adrien Broner is set to return to the ring on November 4th, as announced by promoter Don King through his Instagram account. The press release revealed that Broner would be headlining a card filled with several other well-known fighters, including Ilunga Makabu. The fight card is set to take place in the same venue where Broner fought previously: the Casino Miami Jai Alai, located in Miami, Florida, USA.
Adrien Broner’s (35-4-1, 24 KO’s) previous match saw him clash against licensed attorney Bill Hutchinson (20-3-4, 9 KO’s) in what eventually became a dominant unanimous decision win in favor of Broner. Their welterweight fight occurred roughly three months ago in June.
Broner will be facing fellow American Chris Howard (18-2-1, 8 KO’s) as his next opponent, a low-ranked welterweight contender whose only title fight to date was a match for the WBC Continental Americas title in 2012.
The fight is scheduled for a total of ten rounds and is clearly intended to get Adrien Broner acclimated to fighting again, given the long layoffs he has had from the ring in the last couple of years. Though Broner and promoter Don King have previously expressed their desire for Broner to challenge the top fighters, this fight can be safely considered a “tune-up” fight given the stature of Broner’s opponent.
Additionally, former WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu (29-3, 25 KO’s) is also set to return to the ring following his loss to Badou Jack (28-3-3, 17 KO’s) in February of this year, resulting in him losing his WBC title. He will be facing Noel Gevor Mikaelyan (26-2, 11 KO’s), a contender who he had previously been ordered to fight when he was still the WBC champion.
Former WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Trevor Bryan (22-1, 15 KO’s), who hasn’t fought since losing his title to Daniel Dubois (19-2, 18 KO’s) on June 1st of last year, will be returning to the ring after a period of inactivity of over a year. He will be facing fellow American Cassius Chaney (22-1, 15 KO’s), who, like Bryan, has been inactive for over a year.
Another American heavyweight, Jonathan Guidry (19-1-2, 11 KO’s), will also feature on the fight card and will be facing the undefeated 43-year-old Puerto Rican Jesus Escalera (18-0, 18 KO’s), one of the few heavyweights currently in the division boasting a 100% KO record.
American middleweight Ian Green (17-2, 11 KO’s) has also been included as part of the Miami fight card.
Adrien Broner is set to main event alongside his opponent, and will be backed by a strong supporting cast of fighters who have a decent reputation in boxing, most prominently Ilunga Makabu, who is best known for his reign as WBC cruiserweight champion between 2020 and 2023.
The Casino Miami Jai Alai will host the fighters in what is clearly a much more entertaining fight card than Don King Productions has produced over the past couple of years, giving hope for similar exciting fight cards to be produced under Don King and his promotion in the future.
