It’s not uncommon for fighters to work together after they meet in the ring.

Normally, it’s in the capacity of a sparring partner. However, Adrien Broner has different future plans in mind for Bill Hutchinson, a licensed attorney who serves as the next in-ring opponent for the former four-division titlist.

“Everybody out there know, it’s public record,” Broner said during Tuesday’s final press conference, alluding to his lengthy list of legal troubles. “After I f--- you up, I’mma hire you because I need you. I need an attorney anyway, because I’m about to fire my old attorney. Now that I know you a fighter, I know that you’ll fight for me, in the courtroom.

“After you beat that case, I got a couple of n----s, they got murders and sh!t. We gonna need you, brother.”

Broner (34-4-1, 24KOs) has spent considerable time getting his life back in order. The plan now for the Cincinnati native—who turns 34 in July—is to get his career back on track. That first step begins with his scheduled ten-round bout versus Pittsburgh’s Hutchinson (20-2-4, 9KOs) atop a pay-per-view event from Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida (Friday, Fite TV, $24.99).

Neither fighter has been particularly active in recent years. Hutchinson—who is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and Florida—has won ten in a row, though spread out over a seven-year stretch. A six-round win last January 29 in his Pittsburgh hometown ended a two-plus year ring absence for the 34-year-old club-level fighter who enters his first scheduled ten-round contest.

Broner (34-4-1, 24KOs) ends a layoff of more than 27 months, which has seen at least two canceled fights but—as he’s promised so many times before—a renewed sense of purpose. Friday’s bout is his first since signing with Hall of Fame promoter Don King earlier this year. It’s also his first since February 2021 and he has fought just twice since a January 2019 loss to eight-division champ Manny Pacquiao in a failed bid for the WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight title.

A lengthy list of court dates for arrests and civil lawsuits have bogged down Broner in addition to getting his boxing career back on track. He attempted to return to the ring in February but—through no fault of his own—saw three separate opponents fall through before the event was shut down altogether.

Perhaps it was destiny, as fate presented Broner with a practicing attorney in the unlikeliest of settings.

“Right now, they got me as Ghost and I’m fighting Saxe,” Broner quipped in a reference to the Power televised series that aired on Starz. “That’s what’s going on right now. Everybody know how that story went. I’d rather get killed by my own son than let this attorney beat me.

“With that being said, I want everyone to come out June 9. I’m back.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox