I know fight fans like to think that they?re beyond being duped by boxing?s hucksters and hustlers, but the truth is that you only need to fool a relatively small percentage of the fans to turn a quick buck. And from everything being flashed before the open window of a headline-hungry media, it appears as though Floyd Mayweather and Adrien Broner are setting up the fans for a hustle of epic proportions.
?I’m still trying to find out what AB stands for,? Mayweather recently told Fighthype.com ?Always broke??
The five-division champ was commenting on the latest verbal jab aimed at Mayweather by Broner, who re-named Mayweather Promotions, ?Hateweather Promotions? in reference to a video statement where the now-former WBA junior welterweight champ claimed Mayweather was threatened by his success.
?Last year, I think Leonard [Ellerbe] made more money than Adrien Broner.? Mayweather continued. ?He [Broner] gave himself a 10-figure name: About Billions. We know he ain’t never seen 8 figures or 9 figures. He’s barely seen 7 figures. It could be safe to say that just one of my cars costs more than he made in his whole career.?
Mayweather would go on to verbally eviscerate Broner by pointing out that his former ?Little Bro? lost to Shawn Porter, Marcos Maidana, should?ve lost to Daniel Ponce De Leon, and barely beat a past-his-prime Paulie Malignaggi. He would even poke fun at Broner?s drawing power, declaring the Cincinnati native to be a small-timer who has to paper the house in his own home town.
It was quite the verbal undressing, but maybe too far over the top to be just one angry man on a rampage.
Picture this:
Broner thoroughly thrashes Mayweather Promotions? Ashley Theophane Friday night on Spike TV and an ugly altercation happens in the post-fight interview between Broner and Mayweather. Fists are thrown and headlines are made. Then Mayweather, vowing vengeance and a desire to ?teach this punk a lesson,? breaks his promise to stay retired in order to don the white hat and rid the sport of Broner once and for all. After five months of headline-friendly build-up and titillation, on September 10 or 17 Mayweather enters the ring one last time to humble an overmatched Broner. The 1.7 million buys for this cynical mentor vs. student main event boggle the mind and send media pundits into a tizzy. Mayweather walks away with one more score and Broner gets the type of payday he doesn?t deserve,
The details of the build-up may play out differently, but the hustle could remain the same.
Back last year when there was a brief flare-up between the two fighters, the media ate it up and the fans flocked to read about it. Somebody (or several somebodies) surely took note.
Would Mayweather be able to resist a relative soft touch for big money and the ego-pleasing idea of finishing his career as the ?good guy,? basking in adulation and fake-weeping in the ring over the gravity of the moment?
Maybe none of this plays out and the heat between Mayweather and Broner is legit, But it shouldn?t surprise anyone one bit if, six months from now, we realize that we were being played for suckers all along.
