First, there is no doubting Adrien Broner talent. The kid is good and getting better. Likely three or four years away from his physical prime, the 22-year-old from Cincinnati is already good enough to soundly beat most everyone from 130 to 140 lbs.
No, this is not a jab at Broner’s skills. This is about the package that surrounds him. The arrogance, the entitlement, and the lack of respect for the sport and the fans who are slowly making him a rich young man.
On Friday, the former WBO super featherweight world titlist had to give up his belt and pay a $60,000 fine for failing to make weight (after being given two opportunities to do so). The previous week’s Tweets involving Twinkies, Twix bars and other sweets suddenly painted the picture of a fighter who, maybe, had little interest in actually making weight.
Still, the fight would go on, provided he could weigh-in under 140 lbs. the morning of the fight.
Saturday came and it saw Broner tip the scale at 143 lbs. The fight was off.
No apologies were given, no remorse was shown. Instead, Team Broner made Escobedo a financial offer to go ahead with the bout and, after several back and forth exchanges, a figure of $250,000 was agreed upon and the fight was back on.
Broner went about his business in the ring and showed why he is one of the sport’s best prospects and a true superstar-in-the-making. Frankly, at any weight, Broner would like have been too much for the earnest, but ultimately over-matched Escobedo.
“The Problem” would stop Escobedo in the fifth round and officially declare war on the lightweight division.
Then, to cap off a cringe-worthy forty-eight hour period of bad public relations, he brought his girlfriend in front of the HBO cameras during his post-fight interview, got down on one knee (ostensibly to propose matrimony), and feigned sincerity.
“Will you…brush my hair?”
Broner and his hangers-on exploded in laughter at the playful twist on his usual, “Brush my hair” routine. The girl, however, if she had not been in on the “gag,” was likely humiliated in front of all of HBO’s viewing audience and a hometown Cincinnati crowd.
At this pace, Broner is indeed headed for superstar status. His skills are too good for him to be anything less. But the kid is sincerely lacking in class and he needs to understand a lesson that even his idol, Floyd Mayweather, always recognized– Have fun all you want, but treat the sport with dignity.
