by G Bell: Adrien Broner thought he had it made, making the mistake many young up and comers Regardless of their field of entertainment, (musicians, athletes), often make, believing their press clippings. Sure, he was smashing one and all at 135, but Paulie Malignaggi brought reality home, and exposed Broner as almost powerless at 147. Broner loves the spotlight, But the light that shone on him during the Malignaggi fight, attracted the wrong kind of attention.
Namely, the top 140/147 pound fighters. Before the Malignaggi fight, I’m sure more than a few welterweights were thinking twice about facing Broner, now, not so much. To the contrary, the majority of welters, like a pack of great whites, now smell the blood in the water and are now jockeying for position for a chance to be the first to knock Broner out. Even big bro FMJ, couldn’t hide his disappointment with his inability to dispatch Paulie Malignaggi.
Thanks to Broner’s mouth, he’s pretty much painted himself into a corner, whereas to go back down to 135 would make him look like he’s ducking the big boys, 140/147, and if he stays at welter, he must know he does’nt have the power or skill set, to compete effectively, Even at 135 he’s looking at guys like Terence Crawford, Yuriokis Gamboa Richard Abril to name a few, who must also be chomping at the bit to expose his lack of boxing skills. Broner is a talented boxer granted, but just not as talented as he would have us believe. The shoulder roll will only get you so far, unless you are FMJ. Instead of heaping scorn on fighters like Lucas Matthysse and Marcos Maidana, one would be smart to let sleeping dogs lie.
It looks like Maidana will get the first crack at testing the chin and stamina of this FMJ wannabe. I give him a punchers chance in that bout, but against a guy like Lucas Matthysse, well, that is a whole new ballgame. Don’t expect that fight to get made until after Canelo and his “big brother” get it on, and then we’ll probably have to wait until the new year for that battle to come down. There are not many second tier fighters at 140/147 who won’t give Broner, well, Problems. Eventually he’ll have to face the likes of a Keith Thurman, and that will just be ugly. It’s going to take golden boy some constructive matchmaking, if Broner is to be the next big PPV star He keeps insisting is his destiny.
In conclusion, I believe some of Broner’s few options might be: find another Malignaggi at 147 to defend his belt at least once against before a mandatory, (Thurman) then vacate his 147 belt. Duck the Terence Crawfords at 135, defend that belt against another non mandatory, retire undefeated, and then get out of dodge, fast. I hope Broner likes coffee because it’s about time he woke up and had a sniff.
Comments are closed.