By Donnell Young: Despite all of his antics and questionable behavior, there is no denying that Adrien Broner has the potential to be a really good, if not great, fighter. However, there are some questions about his approach to the craft of boxing and his dedication to the sport.
There is no doubt that seeing him destroy fighters like Gavin Rees, Antonio Demarco, Vicente Escebedo, Jason Litzau and Eloy Perez delivered excitement. These were fighters, for the most part, that were smaller than Broner and he was able to walk through the best shots they had to give and deliver extreme punishment of his own.
Needless to say, his speed and punching power were entirely too much for any of these guys to handle and they all were stopped. Though Broner looked spectacular in each win, the pedigree of these fighters can easily be belittled.
On top of that, his disrespectful comments and behavior can easily leave a bad taste in the mouth of many boxing purists. Even with that being said, this is a sport that requires you to entertain and sell yourself. Broner seems to be pretty good in both departments.
Whether we tune in to see him put on a show and get a knockout/win or to see his opponent knock him off his high horse and back down to earth, we still watch because he is very entertaining. However, his most recent performance against the WBA welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi left a lot to be desired.
Paulie was able to hit him pretty frequently throughout the fight, which is a troubling sign from where I stand. It’s no secret that Paulie does not and never has had elite power as a welterweight. This gives light to another question. Will Broner be able to stand toe to toe with true welterweights and have the same success?
I personally don’t think so. Though he got the win, it was clear that he has a few things to work on in order to reach the elite level that he claims he has already reached. Does he have a solid record? Yes. Does he have a solid resume? I’m not so sure. It seems as if his handlers are attempting to bring him along slowly, but in the welterweight division there is a slew of capable opponents that could potentially give Broner the type of problems he has never seen before.
Now the question becomes, what’s next for Adrien Broner? Its clear that he does not yet have the power to knockout welterweights the way he did in the super featherweight and lightweight divisions. Malignaggi is no slouch, but has been stopped by the likes of Amir Kahn and Ricky hatton. Both of whom, I believe to be good but not great fighters. That being said, he went the distance with Broner who landed more than enough clean shots to get a knockout and would have easily done so had he been facing a fighter from a lower weight class. These facts lead me to ask whether or not welterweight is the best division for Broner? With the likes of Keith Thurman, Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse on the rise in this division, it might be a good idea for Broner’s handlers to move him back down to 135lb or 140lb.
I believe that these three fighters are definitely ones that Broner and his camp should avoid for a few simple reasons. Broner will not be able to walk them down easily or back them up with his shots. Also, they all have legitimate welterweight knockout power. To add to these things, Broner has not really shown the ability to adjust in the ring and we have no idea whether he can take a clean shot from a fighter with the power that these guys posses.
We also don’t know if he has the ability to properly clinch or move in the event that he gets hurt because he never has been hurt. Taking a good shot and having the ability to recover from it are essential in the sport of boxing if one is to be considered an elite fighter. There are just too many questions about Broner as a fighter that have yet to be answered for me to consider him an elite level fighter. Can he get to that point? I believe so. Is here there already? No. I think he has to change some things about his approach to the craft if he is to reach the highest level. He seems to be really focused on being a rapper more than a boxer. Maybe he needs to take up the, “Hardwork, Dedication” motto that his so called, “Big Brother Floyd Mayweather lives by. I am sure Al Haymon and crew will make sure that he fights the least threatening opponents possible, but it will be hard for him to hide for much longer in the welterweight or light welterweight divisions. What do the readers think?
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