By Dan Ambrose: Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) said after his 12 round split decision win over WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, 7 KO’s) last Saturday night that he’d face whoever boxing fans pick out for him to fight next. But does anyone actually really believe that Broner will face who the fans pick for him?
It’s very hard to believe that Broner would say yes to someone like Lucas Matthysse, if that’s who the fans selected for him to fight, and that’s probably the guy that they want him to face next.
Broner’s promoter Richard Schaefer wants him to Marcos Maidana, but he’s also open to Broner facing other opponents if that’s what he prefers to do.
Schaefer could easily match Broner up with one of Golden Boy’s many welterweights that they have in their stable if Broner would be okay with that. However, Broner was kind of exposed by Malignaggi last Saturday night as not having the power or the skills to do much with him. If Broner can’t knockout and dominate a fighter like Malingaggi, then what does that tell you about his chances of success at 147?
Not everybody has doubts about Broner’s future. It seems that Dan Rafael of ESPN believes in him, saying in his column at ESPN “[Maidana] is merely one possibility for a fighter who has the potential – it’s not realized yet – to become a major, major force in boxing for a long time.”
Rafael’s opinion about Broner seems to be on the opposite side of the spectrum from what many boxing fans saw last Saturday night in the Broner-Rios fight. Many of the fans felt that Broner deserved no better than a draw at best. But there are a number of fans – and writers like Rafael – who saw the Broner-Malignaggi fight as a clear win for Broner. I’m not one of them. I thought the fight was a draw, and I was a big fan of Broner going into the fight. But he didn’t show the kind of talent that suggests that he’ll be a big force in the sport of boxing for even a short time.
The only way I see Broner becoming a big force in boxing is if his promoters at Golden Boy and his adviser Al Haymon use the utmost care in selecting his opponents for the 5-10 years because that’s the only I see him becoming a big star, and I don’t know how Broner become a star if he’s not matched against the best fighters. He would have to be steered around guys like Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, probably Amir Khan too, Devon Alexander, Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, and Victor Ortiz for starters. Those would have to be the untouchables for Broner.
If Golden Boy can find a way to make Broner a PPV star while avoiding those guys then more power to them, but I think the boxing public will start to figure out sooner or later that something isn’t right if he’s being matched up against fringe contenders without power or much talent instead of the best guys. Who would want to pay to see Broner fight if he’s not going to be facing the champions?
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