By Mohamed Horomtallah: No, Floyd Mayweather Jr is not fighting Adrien Broner. At least not that I know of but he might end up knocking him out just the same. Broner is a young and very talented fighter but hanging out with Mayweather can jeopardize his career.
Broner is marketing himself as the next big thing, the next pay-per-view superstar. He talks the talk but he still has to walk the walk. Being around Mayweather is dangerous for him because he gets to see Floyd live the life of a boxing superstar, with all the toys, the money, the jets, the respect etc. He feels that this could be his life in the short term and that makes him act like he’s already arrived.
That’s not the case however because the first thing Broner needs to understand is that it took Mayweather more than a decade to get to this point despite being a God gifted boxer and a smart businessman. It wasn’t until his fight with De La Hoya that Mayweather became a per-per-view king and a superstar and he had to pay his dues and face a much better opposition leading up to his career defining fight with De La Hoya.
Broner still has not faced world class opposition and his fight with Ponce De Leon had a great deal of fans questioning the outcome. He’s making a huge mistake by believing that he’s already arrived and that his pay-per-view crown is waiting for him. Broner is not Mayweather with respect to his boxing skills. He doesn’t have his defense nor his ring IQ. Broner gets hit a lot and sooner or later, one punch might send his dream career to the canvas.
Make no mistake about it, Golden Boy and HBO (or Showtime) are set to make Broner the next pay-per-view king, a replacement to the soon to be retired Mayweather. That’s why his promoter keep matching him up with soft opposition and the network is televising those fights but the clock is ticking and Broner will soon be forced to face elite opposition and should he get knocked out or outclassed, I’m not sure Golden Boy nor HBO will have too much patience with him.
The thing is Broner is being so cocky and so disrespectful without having proved much that should he taste defeat, nobody will give him a break. Not his promoter. Not the network and most definitely the fans. When you talk that kind of talk, you are bound to back it up each and everytime and then, and only then, you turn your “bad guy” image into a money making brand like Mayweather did. When you stand in line at the bank with a check to cash, you better make sure there’s money in the account.
Broner has a lot to prove, specially after his encounter with his june 22nd opponent, Paulie Malignaggi. Broner was intimated and got more than what he bargained for when Malignaggi started trash talking him. He seemed confused and his body language indicated that he was very uncomfortable. If Broner can’t handle that kind of pressure, he has no business acting cocky. Chances are Broner will win his fight against Malignaggi, he might even stop him but if at the first sign of adversity, he acts the way he did, he should work on his “mental fitness”.
What if he faces an opponent that will rough him up, put pressure on him, frustrate him and hit him with hard shots? Will he have what it takes to turn things around? Will he dig deep down inside and react like a true champion?
Like I said, Broner hasn’t proven much so far and until then he should focus more on working on his game and less on hanging with Mayweather and thinking that he’s reached his level. That will end up knocking him out and making him loose more than a fight.
Comments are closed.