to pursue a fourth world title. He was slated to fight former WBA champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs), who lost the title to Vargas in April 2014. A date in October 2015 was considered with the bout taking place in either Las Vegas or Cincinnati. On August 28, Showtime announced via an official press release the fight was confirmed for October 3 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Allakkverdiev had not fought in 18 months prior to this fight and was fighting for only the second time since July 2013. Broner won the vacant WBA title defeating Allakhverdiev by TKO in the 12th round. Broner's win was not a surprise by boxing aficionados, as Allahkverdiev is known to be a slow, soft-punching opponent. It came to a point in the final round where Broner was landing at will, although it seemed as though Allakhverdiev could continue and hear the final bell, referee Harvey Dock stepped in and halted the fight at 2:23 of the round. Allakhverdiev, was taking punches, failed to land any of his own. After the fight, when asked what he would do next, Broner replied, "I’m going to fight whoever I want to fight whenever I want to fight,” Broner said afterwards. “They say my big brother Floyd Mayweather has a fighter that he thinks can beat me. I think his name is Ashley [Theophane]." At the time, Theophane wasn't ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Association. Broner vs. Theophane On February 19, 2016, Premier Boxing Champions announced that Broner would defend his WBA light welterweight title against British veteran boxer Ashley Theophane (39–6–1, 11 KO) on April 1 at D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C., live on Spike. Broner was stripped ahead of the fight, for missing the 140-pound limit. Broner defeated Theophane by TKO in the 9th round. Before the stoppage by referee Luis Pabon, Broner was leading on the scorecards 78–74, 78–74, and 77–75. Theophane was rocked several times during the fight, almost leading to a knockdown in the 4th round. The fight was scheduled to be for the, but After the fight, Broner called out Floyd Mayweather Jr., as tensions between the former friends had increased in the past months, due to comments about TMT (The Money Team) by Broner. Second return to welterweight Broner vs. Granados Prior to Ricky Burns retaining his world title against Kiryl Relikh,