By Carlos Garcia Severich: Each generation yearns for its next superstar and once every blue moon the boxing Gods smile upon us and send us what many believe to be the savior of this noble sport. Today’s superstars are about to become old news, many new names have surfaced and as we have heard them we have forgot them by now.
This bring us to the curious case of Adrien “The Problem” Broner, as brash and controversial as he can be “The Problem” is hated by some and hated some more but he counts with an unprecedented promotional backing from boxing’s top dogs. The Problem seemed to overtake boxing and left many wondering, is he the truth or another case of perfect matchmaking, is he the next Andre Berto or the next Floyd “Money” Mayweather.
The boxing media, promoters and managers wanted the world to believe “The Problem” was the solution and for many years with a combination of speed, crisp counter punching and perfect matchmaking many turned into believers. He’s personality made him to be the perfect heir to the throne, from flushing contender after contender in the ring to flushing money down the toilet “The Problem” was expected to become America’s most hated/loved bad boy. Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t and the statistics seemed to back “The Problem’s” claim among the hottest prospects in the game. After several impressive performances the boxing world saw him transition into Mr. HBO, “the CAN man” and finally into “AB” (about Billions). During his meteoric rise to fame we saw him as one of the most dominant forces in the sport, but during that evolution there were instances where “The Problem” showed he could just be an ordinary fighter.
The boxing world did not listen and for “The Problem’s” 20th bout he was set to face the rugged former world champion Daniel Ponce de Leon. Many thought this fight to be a stepping stone for the hot prospect, but as soon as the bell rang it was clear it would not be an ordinary night at the office. Ponce de Leon created what would become to be the blueprint of what would eventually be “The Problem’s” solution; however, that night “The Problem” emerged victorious and was expected to move on to fulfill his destiny. Several bouts followed and all of his opponents failed to bring what the Mexican warrior brought with him that night of March 2011.
The “Problems” antics increased as his fame kept getting bigger many unfortunate events followed from taunting opponents crossing the line from a confident young lion to a distasteful clown. He was highly criticized for this part of his boxing alter ego, but as long as he kept on wining all was forgiven. Several titles followed and then one day it was announced he would jump two weight classes to challenge for a word title on the sports’ glamor division, the welterweight division. “The Problem”, was not a major problem for the soft hitting Paulie Malignaggi who brought his “A” game and pushed the fight to the late rounds and turned what was supposed to be a one sided affair into a highly competitive bout. At the end of the night as it was expected Adrien “The Problem” Broner added one more tittle to his already impressive resume. The built up to this fight was ugly, distasteful and turned off many fans, but not only did he failed to impress he showed that the talent was there but left many wondering about his respect to the sport. Over the moons that followed “The Problem” truly became a problem not on the squared ring, but rather for his antics outside of it where he was constantly spotted at night clubs surrounded by bottles and models.
The concerns grew but his confidence was sky high to the point where his next opponent would be a huge step up and the man chosen was the hard hitting Argentinian hammer Marcos “El Chino” Maidana. Broner was expected to have a rough night and was expected to win. That night the man who steeped in truly believed he had the solution to the “problem” and when the bell rang we knew he meant business. “El Chino” gave the world the upset of the year and after 12 rounds, 2 knockdowns later “The Problem” was at high risk of losing his unblemished record after being considerate the favorite among many experts. “El Chino’s” effective aggression was too much and his power was the cherry to bring the young lion from the clouds back to reality at least that is what it was expected, but when the results were announced the world witnessed another what it’s known as a Broner moment.
The young lion could not stomach the loss and left speechless. The boxing world was hoping this was going to be a humbling experience forward to 2015, his antics are still there. “The Problem” parties left and right, many question his work ethic but his hopes were still intact that he would become the next big thing in the sport regardless of having lost to “El Chino”. Over the built up of his latest fight there was a lot of talk that his current management team was growing distant and was ready to cash out on “The Problem”. This news came as a surprise, but deep inside there was some truth behind it as his latest opponent was to be Shawn “Showtime” Porter.
Boxing fans all over were excited for this match up “The Problem” had to come up on weight again and face the extremely aggressive and super active Porter on what was to be his toughest challenge since his first loss. As many predicted Broner failed to impress one more time and he failed to come up on top on what it was thought to be his make it or break it moment. Was it his lack of full commitment to the sport, his outside of the ring antics or is he just not that special. These are difficult question to answer, but there is one truth he is not to be the next Floyd and neither will he turn out to be the next Berto. He is Adrien Broner, and will always be Adrien “The Problem” Broner any comparison will continue to damage his career and whether he can come back only time will tell. The talent is there but he needs to make changes in his personal life and on how he approaches the sport. You can play football, basketball, soccer and many other sports but when it comes to boxing is not a game, your life is on the line and it has to be treated with the highest respect especially at the level.
Carlos R. Garcia Severich
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