Boxing Champ Said to Pummel Man Over Bets

CINNCINATI (CN) - An Ohio man claims in court that Adrien Broner, the World Boxing Association super lightweight champion, knocked him out after losing thousands on bets placed on bowling matches.

In a complaint filed in Hamilton County, Ohio on Feb. 5, Christopher Carson claims Broner knocked him unconscious outside a Cincinnati bowling alley after becoming enraged over losing $14,000 to Carson on side bets the men made while bowling against each other.

Broner, a Cincinnati native, began boxing at age six and holds a professional record of 31 wins and two losses, including 23 wins by knockout.

Broner sometimes goes by the moniker "The Problem" and is a multiple-division world champion.

Carson says he and Broner met through a mutual acquaintance two years ago, and had maintained a friendly relationship since then.

He claims that relationship took a drastic turn on the night of Jan. 20, when he turned down a large bet the boxer wanted to make after a night of heavy losses.

Throughout the evening, Broner had lost $8,000 in cash to Carson, and also, another $6,000 that he owed him on credit. According to the complaint, when Broner proposed wagering another $6,000 on a final bowling match, Carson declined, suggesting a smaller wager.

Carson says this caused Broner to storm away in anger.

But later that night, the complaint says, as Carson left the bowling alley, Broner appeared with eight unnamed individuals and demanded his money back, while also stating he had no intention of paying the money he owed on credit.

Carson says when he refused to return the $8,000, the boxing champ punched him in the face, causing him a cut on his chin and a chipped tooth.

Broner then brandished a gun, demanding the money a second time, and knocked Carson unconscious after he refused to pay, the complaint says.

Carson says he woke up on the ground, bleeding heavily from his chin, and devoid of all the money he had on his person, including $2,000 of his own cash.

While Carson did not call the police, he was treated for his injuries that morning at a nearby hospital.

The lawsuit seeks damages for assault, battery, civil theft and emotional distress following the attack.

This lawsuit is not Broner's first brush with legal trouble. In January 2015, the boxer was arrested for driving while impaired. Video footage of the arrest surfaced on the internet, and depicted Broner arguing about his sobriety with a female state trooper, before eventually being placed in the back of a squad car.

"Broner's conduct in brandishing a deadly weapon and threatening Carson with that deadly weapon, was outrageous and extreme in that it was beyond all possible bounds of decency," the complaint says.

Carson is represented by Bradley Gibson of the Finney Law Firm in Cincinnati.

Representatives of Broner did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Courthouse News.

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