By Craig Hilton: Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner (26-0) has been talking profusely about Floyd Mayweather Jnr. (43-0) recently. As a boxing fan with an admiration for the pugilist’s individuality, I don’t like hearing this from Broner as although he may not have the same repertoire of skills, he has all the talent to achieve more than Floyd. In my opinion, Adrien should focus on building his own legacy.
It’s important to study the skills of successful fighters but Broner risks being cast into the shadow of Floyd Mayweather Jnr., damaging his own legacy and reputation. It was recently made clear on Sky Sports’ Ringside programme that Adrien Broner has achieved similar things sooner than Mayweather; Broner could smash Mayweather’s achievements in the same way that Usain Bolt took Michael Johnson’s world record in the 200 metres!
Broner is far from a Mayweather clone and displays some of the skills and characteristics of other fighters such as ‘The Prince’, Prince Naseem Hamed (37– 36-1), Roy Jones (63-55-8) and Sugar Ray Leonard (40-36-3-1) – the perfect mix for entertaining and record pay per view purchases. In my opinion, Broner has a style more akin to ‘The Prince’ in that he always tries to entertain, inside and outside of the ring. He has that same swagger and confidence in his ability that the ‘The Prince’ displayed. In addition to the incredible power at the weight, Broner has the same spiteful attitude that ‘The Prince’ displayed throughout his career.
Early in his career, Floyd Mayweather Jnr. was a defensive fighter that did not draw the crowds, call out names or knock guys out easily – he was concentrating on learning his trade. Broner has clearly put a lot of work in the gym over the years, allowing him to showcase his skills so early in his career. The most differentiating characteristic between Mayweather and Broner is power; Adrien can afford to be more offensive as he has that knock-out punch, something you can’t teach. Floyd Mayweather is more of an architect boxer in that he puts his fight together very well, using the full twelve rounds.
Broner says that he never watches tapes of his opponents; he has the confidence from sparring to enable him to answer any questions that his opponents ask of him. However, ‘The Problem’ may find, as Hamed did, that there may be one or two fighters out there with a good enough chin and sufficient power to bring the fight to Broner and pose a few questions themselves. However, I think it’s very fortunate that Adrien has built up his skills – seemingly independently – as some fighters are over-coached and therefore when they go through a tough period in a fight they look confused and don’t know what to do.
I note that Broner recently targeted Marquez, a counter-puncher, as opposed to fast volume punchers like Manny Pacquiao (61–54–5-2) or Amir Khan (30-27-3-0). What strikes me is that Broner does not have great foot speed and did get hit a few times against Gavin Rees (40-37-2-1); his defence is clearly not as solid as Mayweather’s and that needs improving.
If Broner was unhappy with the recent publishing of the pound for pound listings, a scalp such as Manny Pacquiao would surely propel him up the ranks. We wait in anticipation of Broner’s next move; his boxing journey should be an interesting one. I just hope that by the end of his career, we view him more than just a Mayweather clone and that the generation of boxers that follow Broner can learn a thing or two from his unique legacy.
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