Who better to hate than the man who has emulated Floyd ?Money? Mayweather, however ineffectively, from the start?
?The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that?s the essence of inhumanity.??George Bernard Shaw
Now that Floyd Mayweather has retired and feels obliged to remind us that there is racism in boxing (?I?m not racist at all,? he says, ?but I say that racism still exists?), as if boxing was any different from other institutions, someone has to take his place as the most hated man in boxing.
So who is the new, or not so new, most hated man in boxing? Is it a promoter? Is it a referee? Is it a trainer? Is it a talking head? Is it a boxing writer?
There are many who might qualify, according to the standards used in determining who is really and truly hateful. Since there is no shortage of hate in our testosterone-saturated sport, one can spread it around like jam on toast if one so chooses. But when the chips are down, hate moves up to unprecedented levels, and who better to hate than the man who has emulated Floyd Mayweather, however ineffectively, from the start?
Ashley Theophane (39-6-1, 11 KOs), who is fighting WBA super welterweight champion Adrien Broner (31-2, 23 KOs) at the end of January, believes Broner is ?most hated man in boxing.?
?There are loads of people who hope that I win,? said Theophane. ?He seems to be the most hated man in boxing. People who don?t even know me are saying they hope I win.?
That?s quite an honorific to bestow on someone as essentially harmless as Adrien Broner.
Granted, Broner isn?t perfect. He can be tacky. He never met a gimmick he didn?t like. He can?t keep his zipper or mouth shut. And he?s made an art of rubbing people the wrong way, like a blind masseur who is all thumbs.
But is Broner worth hating, and if so why?
When his name is announced at the fights, whether he?s sitting ringside or strutting inside the square circle, the crowd inevitably boos in unison. Broner smiles at the jeers, his lopsided grin both grating and endearing at the same time. It?s almost as if he possesses a not-so-secret knowledge that any crowd that does anything in unison is a crowd one need not take seriously.
He may not know what the word lemming means, but he can spot one a mile away.
Maybe Broner is hated because he has failed to live up to his potential, even though he has won several titles and made a boatload of money in the process.
But one doesn?t need a reason to hate. Even Ashley Theophane knows that.
?To me, he?s entertaining,? Theophane told Sky Sports. ?He?s foul-mouthed and says stuff he shouldn?t say. He said the same things about Shawn and Marcos so I don?t worry about words.?
Broner doesn?t worry about words either. They flow from his mouth the way water flows from the Mississippi.
But does that make Broner hateful?
Nope. It just makes Broner Broner.
