By James Le Blanc: Al Haymon is the best Adviser in the business. His record speaks for itself as you consistently see top boxers thanking him, before God, after a victory including top boxing stars like Floyd Mayweather Jr. Haymon has done an exceptional job and in recent interviews this weekend it is clear his great mind is rubbing off on others.
Mayweather has called for Amir Khan to face Adrien Broner on his Pay Per View undercard and has promised Khan a fight with him if he is able to beat Broner. This makes Broner the new gatekeeper to fighting Floyd, kind of how Andre Berto was a couple of years ago.
If this is to happen it is great for Showtime and the PPV card. It’s great for Mayweather’s PPV numbers. It’s great for Khan as he could win and get the fight he has been clamoring over for years. But it’s a high risk-low reward option for Broner and this will not be the first time Mayweather has stepped on Broner’s toes.
Let’s start with why this is great advice for Khan. Amir Khan has been getting terrible advice the last year or so and I wrote an article about it not too long ago on this site titled “Amir Khan only has himself to blame.” We have learned that the recipe for getting a mega fight with Floyd is not to cry to your fans on social media, not to run your mouth to various outlets hoping to rattle cages, but it’s to prove your merits in the ring. Khan has proven himself…but in the past and has not looked remotely impressive in recent bouts. Whoever advised him should be fired by now, Khan now has the right direction to get the fight he covets the most and that is to fight Broner.
With light at the end of the tunnel for Khan, the future for Broner doesn’t look so bright. Broner has also been at the bad end of advising when he believed his own hype and moved up two weight classes. Paulie Malignaggi was a great ruler to determine where Broner really was in the sport and while that split victory Broner gained over the light hitting Malignaggi should have deterred him from fighting a full-fledged welterweight Broner ended up taking a fight against a very dangerous Marcos Maidana. The rest is history.
Call it ‘rescuing’, call it ‘sonning’, whatever you want to call it, Mayweather figuratively stepped on Broner’s toes by getting in the way of Broner’s rematch clause and picking up Maidana as his next opponent. He is again figuratively stepping on Broner’s toes by suggesting he should get in the ring with a very dangerous Khan who bested Maidana a few years ago and has big decisive wins over guys like Malignaggi, Zab Judah, and Lamont Peterson (I know I know, but c’mon he won that one). Broner has everything to lose and almost nothing to gain. If he beats Khan he won’t be getting in the ring with ‘Big Bro’, so what’s in it for him? If he wins and looks bad his stock will drop even further, if he looks exceptional and knocks Khan out everyone will site Khans weak chin. A win is always a win for any fighter, but fighting Khan only helps ‘Big Bro’s’ PPV card, the same Big Bro that didn’t acknowledge Broners rematch clause. Now Mayweather will step in the ring to prove to the world that there is no comparison between him and Broner and Broner will fight on the undercard using his name to get Big Bro more money. Broner you said you were the closest thing to Mayweather, but he ‘Sonned’ you.
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