What’s Floyd’s Problem with Adrien Broner?

By Boxing News - 04/01/2016 - Comments

floyd5By Jermill Pennington: When this whole Floyd Mayweather and Adrien Broner spectacle first began after Floyd commented on Broner tossing money in line at Wal-Mart everyone had an opinion. My opinion was one in the minority, taking sides with Mayweather that Broner’s behavior was not only unacceptable, but distasteful as well.

The reason I took sides with Mayweather was simple, if you’re going to throw away money, do it in a place where people aren’t there to save money. Now it would be “easy work” to call Mayweather out on this knowing that he himself has been seen burning money in a strip club.

To that assertion I say this; a strip club is a place where people go to throw money in the air, making it the appropriate place to burn a Benjamin if you’re ever going to do something that preposterous.

When taking a close look at these interactions between the two it’s easily said that Mayweather is in the wrong. Most people going with the notion that if you have someone’s back, you never speak about them publicly. Broner since the start of his career has cited Mayweather as a mentor of sorts. The translation of the word mentor to the streets is more commonly known as “the big homie.” Fans seemed to be appalled that Mayweather knowing his checkered past (putting it lightly) would be the one to pass judgment. Fair enough, however I think the role of “the big homie” needs to be defined.

The big Homie in most cases is older and more experienced, most times taking the role as a father figure. Bear with me a minute as I’m going to be very literal. As a father, the mistakes that I’ve made in the past are not okay for my children to make. So just because Floyd has done stupid things in his past doesn’t mean that he has to tolerate Broner doing them. A big homie wants his little homie to learn from his mistakes and be better, in hopes of missing the bumps in the road that he endured. Now older with hindsight as a reference, is it absurd to think Mayweather can relate to where Broner is and understand what could happen if he doesn’t fly straight? This is what I thought initially until yesterday’s comments were made after Broner failed to make weight for Friday night’s fight.

Before I begin to psycho analysis Mayweather there’s a few things I want you to understand about people like this. I’m going to give a few examples of these types so you can better understand. Do you realize that Michael Jordan, worldly renowned as the greatest basketball player ever brought to his Hall of Fame induction ceremony the guy that he was “allegedly” cut of the high school basketball team for? Take a minute to understand how crazy that is. Did you know that Jim Brown, known to many as the greatest running back to ever play football still thinks at 80 years old he could still play. Kobe Bryant has gone on record and said he has never had a teammate to his home and has never developed a real friendship with anyone. I’ll go on a limb here and say if Muhammad Ali could talk, he’d tell you that he could still beat some fighters today.

What’s in common with all the mentioned athletes is that they are known as the best in the world at what they do. Ask yourself “what am I the best in the world at?” my guess would be nothing and not even close. That said I think we have to stop judging these types under the context of a normal person. Using Kobe for example, he can’t be a great husband, at great father to his children, the focus he’s put on being great at basketball is something normal people can’t understand. Most people aren’t driven to be the best in the world, most of us settle for being good enough at our job to make it to Friday.

Mayweather is just as diabolical and is a part of this fraternity of men. These men don’t have very successful marriages, as they are married to the competition. Having friends are put aside as their casual time is spent sharpening their craft. The way they live life is unconventional, often stubborn to the point that trying to convince them of something can be nearly impossible. These types never retire from competition, rather competition retires them. If Muhammad Ali was able to beat Larry Holmes does anyone think for a minute that would have been his last fight? I don’t.

Is Peyton Manning going to stay retired? Will Brett Farve announce a comeback to the NFL? No one knows for sure. One thing I think we all know is that Floyd Mayweather like the others cannot simply walk away from the competition. The fire inside these guys to compete is something us regular guys can’t comprehend. His quarrels with Adrien Broner in my estimation isn’t personal, rather something inside him that can’t let someone else have the spotlight if even for a moment. He won’t retire form boxing, boxing will retire im.



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