By Dan Ambrose: Floyd Mayweather Jr. was pouring compliments over the head of Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) last night in between rounds of Broner’s fight with WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, 7 KO’s) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Mayweather Jr. was saying that Broner is the future of the sport and that he reminds Mayweather Jr. of himself when he was younger.
The compliments that Mayweather Jr. was giving Broner seemed to be out of sorts with the reality that was taking place in the ring last night because Broner looked for 12 rounds, and nothing like a future great.
Mayweather Jr. said this to Showtime’s Jim Gray last night: “Adrien Broner is truly amazing. He’s the future of boxing. Adrien Broner’s my little brother. Both of these guys are great. A young Floyd Mayweather.”
Broner won the fight by a 12 round split decision over Malignaggi, but he failed to show any kind of Mayweather potential. The judges had it 115-113 and 117-111 for Broner, and 115-113 for Malignaggi. It looked like Mayweather Jr. in slow motion at times, but I can’t remember ever seeing a 23-year-old Mayweather Jr. getting as hit as much as Broner was last night against Malignaggi. I also can’t remember Mayweather Jr. struggling as bad at 23 as Broner was in this fight.
Broner doesn’t look like a young Mayweather Jr. In fact, he doesn’t even look like Mayweather Jr. at 36. Broner gets hit too much, his hand speed isn’t as good, and he stands stationary most of the time unless he’s walking after his opponent. Mayweather Jr. never fought like that and he still doesn’t. His feet are constantly moving.
Mayweather Jr’s opinion about Broner being the future of boxing echoes that of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. He’s been spouting the same line lately, but if Broner is going to live up to their expectations, he’s going to have to improve or show more in his future fights. Last night, Broner looked lazy, as if he doing just the minimum needed to get the win. I saw a fighter that was afraid to really let his hands go for fear of gassing out or getting hit too much.
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