“It really busts my head to see AB like this. Just when you think it’s hope for the ni**a, he start tripping again,” Hitchins posted on X.
The reaction means more coming from Hitchins than an outsider. Broner once served as an older-brother figure to the former IBF light welterweight champion. Hitchins saw the success Broner enjoyed at his peak and also what followed when his lifestyle became increasingly destructive.
The timing makes the scene worse. Broner was recently hospitalized with pancreatitis after years in which alcohol has been an issue. At 37, continuing that lifestyle carries greater consequences.
Adrien Broner was too drunk and could barely hold his eyes open to watch Ray J’s fight 😬 pic.twitter.com/BonaKQ9Q9l
— Rowdy HipHop (@rowdyhiphop) August 16, 2026
Broner (35-5-1, 24 KOs) also faces a steep physical climb before any serious ring return. His midsection shows little resemblance to the leaner physique he carried during his prime. He would need to lose considerable weight just to put himself in position for a productive training camp.
AB has been out of the ring for more than two years. His last fight ended in a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Blair Cobbs on June 7, 2024. Cobbs dropped him in the second round, and Broner looked flat in a fight he needed to win to give another comeback some credibility.
Why Broner would lace them up again is difficult to answer.
Title contention looks unrealistic, while tune-ups against little-known opponents aren’t likely to generate the purses he once commanded. Broner’s name still has value, but probably not enough to make fighting his way through low-level opposition financially worthwhile.
A lucrative name fight would be different. If Turki Alalshikh were interested in financing Broner against someone such as Conor Benn, there would be serious money available for AB to get himself back into fighting condition. Without that kind of offer, another comeback has little purpose beyond extending a career that has already run well past its best years.
Hitchins is watching someone he once looked up to continue down the same road despite a recent medical scare. At this stage, getting Broner ready for another fight should be secondary to getting his life in order outside the ring.
