Newly-crowned WBC lightweight titleholder Adrien “The Problem” Broner called out Manny Pacquiao during an interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman before the Robert Guerrero-Andre Berto fight in Ontario, Calif., on Saturday.

Broner (25-0, 21 knockouts) scored his fifth straight stoppage by dethroning Antonio DeMarco for the WBC’s 135-pound belt in Atlantic City on Nov. 17, ending DeMarco’s streak of five consecutive wins since falling by ninth-round knockout to the late Edwin Valero in February of 2010. (Click here for a video of Bill Emes’ post-fight locker room interview with Adrien Broner.)

Asked what his next move was, Broner brought up the fact that a bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. has not come to fruition, hinting that maybe he could step in.

“I feel like I’m walking on clouds, man. The sky’s the limit. You know, the clouds are under me. I’ve got the world in my hands right now, and I feel like I took over the game in this era,” said Broner, a former WBO junior lightweight titletholder.

“It’s still Floyd and Pacquiao out there right now, but you know. Who knows if that fight will happen, but I know what fight can happen, and that’s me and Pacquiao.”

Meanwhile, Pacquiao has a fourth bout with four-division titlewinner Juan Manuel Marquez on Dec. 8 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

TRAINER PAT BURNS RECALLS HECTOR CAMACO

Trainer Pat Burns recalled former four-time, three-division champion Hector “Macho” Camacho, who died in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday after being removed from life support four days after the ex-boxer was shot in the face and two days after he was declared brain dead.

Camacho (79-6-3, 38 knockouts) was never knocked out over the course of a career that included two victories over Roberto Duran, one each over Sugar Ray Leonard, Edwin Rosario, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Howard Davis, Rafael “Bazooka” Limon, Vinny Pazienza, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, and Freddie Roach, and losses to Oscar De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez and Felix Trinidad.

Burns worked with Camacho for several bouts, including Camacho’s fifth-round knockout victory over Leonard in March of 1997, and his unanimous decision loss to De La Hoya in his next fight in September of ’97.

“When I got the call to come in and to train him, his whole camp was in disarray. It was just a mess. I sent him away and said, ‘don’t come back until tomorrow,'” said Burns. 

“So we completely re-did the house he was in, because it was a disaster. The sparring partners were a mess. It was all just a mess. But when Hector returned the next day, he actually drove past the house because he didn’t recognize it, which I thought was pretty funny.”

Burns said he learned from Camacho nearly as much as he taught.

“When I first went into camp, I went in with the idea that I was going to teach this guy a lot,” said Burns. “But as it turned out, while he did pick up some things from me, I learned an awful lot from him. I learned how to train a southpaw, how to fight a southpaw, and how to train an older fighter, and I use a lot of that today.”

Burns recently reunited with former undisputed middleweight champ Jermain Taylor after having guided him to a mark of 25-0, with 17 knockouts before being replaced by Emanuel Steward in 2006.

“Hector’s habits outside of the gym were not the best, but a lot of things were said about him that weren’t true. He did live life to the fullest, if you will. However, when it came time to come to the boxing gym, the guy was amazing,” said Burns.

“He would come in 30 pounds over weight, but then it would be nothing but just hard, hard work. No matter what I said to him, no matter how hard I pushed him, he worked extremely hard to get ready for his fights. He was the consummate professional.”

Camacho was particularly good with his fans and his pre-fight costumes, according to Burns

“One of the things I remember about him was that he was great to his fans. There was never anyone that he wouldn’t stop and sign an autograph for. He was never in too much of a rush to speak to people. He was the ultimate showman. He would drive me crazy with some of the outfits that he would put on. They were just so funny,” said Burns.

“The one that I remember the most was when we fought Sugar Ray Leonard at Caesars Palace. He dressed up like a gladiator and actually got into what was almost like a chariot to be carried into the ring. It was one of those things where you just let him do his thing. He knew how to win. We don’t have a personality like him in boxing today. People have tried. ‘Macho’ was just the ultimate guy.”

FERNANDO MONTIEL DECISIONS GIOVANNI CARO

Former WBC and WBO bantamweight beltholder Fernando Montiel (48-4-2, 37 KOs) earned his third-straight victory by narrow, unaniimous decision over Mexican countryman Giovanni Caro (24-11-4, 19 KOs) on Saturday night at Gimnasio Municipal “Jose Neri Santos,” Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Montiel, 33, won, 114-113, 114-112, and, 115-112 during a bout in which each fighter was cut badly and there were accidental head butts.

Montiel last suffered defeat in November of last year against Mexico’s Victor Terrazas (35-2-1, 21 KOs) by unanimous decision after being floored in the fifth round by a man who has won nine straight fights, eight of them by knockout.

The loss to Terrazas ended a streak of three, consecutive knockout wins by Montiel, whose previous loss to that had been in February of last year by second-round knockout to Nonito Donaire, costing Montiel his titles and ending a 11-0-1 unbeaten run that had included nine knockouts.

A three-division titlewinner before facing Donaire, Montiel entered that bout having scored a sensational fourth-round knockout over Hozumi Hasegawa, who at the time was on a 25-fight winning streak.

Photo by Tom Hogan, Hogan Photos, Golden Boy Promotions

Photo by John Gurzinski, AFP/Gettyimages

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]