Typically, when I hear or read about some type of disgusting/outrageous act or picture on the internet, I?m the type of person who has to see it. As long as it?s legal and involves consenting adults, sign me up for a front row viewing as soon as I?m alone with a laptop. I?m just nosy and curious that way, when it comes to how we humans express ourselves. Considering this predisposition and my love for all things boxing, I?ve been trying to square my information addicted nature with my complete lack of desire to see the latest disgusting exploits from Adrien ?The Problem? Broner.
Maybe it?s the fact that this latest act occurred while my mind has been focused on my race and manhood in the wake of the ongoing Trayvon Martin saga. But I really have no desire to see Adrien Broner sit on a toilet at a Popeyes restaurant, while flushing cash and what?s left of his sense of self-worth down the bowl. The last time I looked at one of Broner?s video uploads on the internet, was a few months ago when he was in a hotel flushing cash down a hotel toilet while vacationing in Florida. A shrink can have a fascinating time delving into Broner?s fixation with bathrooms and self-degradation. As a human being who understands the value of cash, and possessing empathy towards countless people in need, the sight of seeing someone flush bills that could go to warm meals, clothing, or other goods, just makes me sad. Not angry even, just sad.
Broner tries too hard.
That has been the common thought, up until his latest stunt. By going over the top with the entourage, nasty insults, and wasted cash, Broner seemed to be trying too hard to be boxing?s next great heel, in the mold of his idol, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Inside the ring, Broner has a lot of Mayweather?s talent. What he may lack in speed and elusiveness, he betters his mentor when it comes to power and ruthless aggression. Outside the ring, all he has in common with Mayweather is a violent criminal history and numerous children out of wedlock. Those shameful in common matters aside, Broner makes Mayweather look like a young Joe Louis.
Mayweather has displayed the talent to mostly balance his ticket driving marquee bad guy antics, with enough savvy to represent the sport in a positive manner on mainstream talk shows. Mayweather showed off his wonderful smile and charm to seduce blue haired red state ladies during his stint on Dancing with the Stars. He also showcases enough quick wit and poise to sell PPV events as a spokesperson on ESPN programming and talk radio. Even on the rare occasions when Mayweather would ?leak? (bigoted Youtube rants, interview meltdowns lacking any coherence), they still pale in comparison to the hair on fire donkey-show routines that Broner has subjected us to.
Broner seems to lack any level of self-awareness or understanding of what lines should not be crossed.
He has become an embarrassment; a problem child in need of direction.
Of course, every child has a father. However, all we know about Broner?s father is that his obesity, in conjunction with his demographic representation, puts his life expectancy at about, oh, 30 minutes from now. Broner?s father is known for acting as his hype man during introductions prior to fights and brushing his hair?an act that is no longer funny considering the current career path?during post fight interviews. Broner?s father does not seem capable of straightening him out. Broner needs a voice that he can respect.
Al Haymon is the most powerful man in boxing. I was going to write ?arguably? prior to the word powerful, but there is really no debate on this matter. Al Haymon is a brilliant Harvard educated self-made businessman, who entered the sport of boxing after a successful career as a concert promoter. Al Haymon has advised and managed Floyd Mayweather Jr. into being the highest paid athlete in professional sports. Haymon also has a fatherly like influence over his stable of fighters, which impacts the big money budgets of multimedia conglomerates that treat Haymon like a Godfather. Al Haymon is also a black man. This is a source of pride for me after everything our race has been through; to see such a powerful and influential figure in the most legendary of sports, in the greatest country in the world.
As they say: With great power, comes great responsibility.
Al Haymon has a responsibility to intervene with Broner and get him the mental health help and direction that he so desperately needs. Broner is supposed to be the future of our sport. This young 24 year old black man has now fathered multiple children out of wedlock, he has a criminal history, he was videotaped in a strip club last year performing oral sex on a stripper, he disrespects society by flushing cash, and he has now most recently allowed himself to be videotaped while sitting on a toilet in a Popeyes restaurant. This is getting out of control, and Al Haymon has the power over Broner?s economic future to intervene and demand changes. As a black man, I think he has even more of an obligation. Broner has become a shameless embarrassment.
Regardless of how anyone feels about what happen to Trayvon Martin?and I have strong feelings that are mostly best left out of this piece?it was a tragic loss of a young man?s life. It caused me to reexamine my own thoughts and relationships concerning race. I absolutely have embraced feelings of ownership and responsibility about what it means to be a young black man in America. It?s made me want to become more active, critical, and introspective about black identity. After seeing a young black man with everything ahead of him senselessly murdered in the streets, I have no desire to see another young black man with even more opportunities for greatness in front of him, flush it all away on a Popeyes toilet. Another thing that the Trayvon Martin saga has taught me is that a certain segment of American society sees a man like Adrien Broner as worthless, nonredeemable, and expendable. Unfortunately, Broner?s actions and apparent self -loathing seems to indicate that he feels the same way about himself. He desperately needs an intervention.
I can understand the argument that Broner should not be looked at as a representative for young black males in America, any more than Amanda Bynes should have the burden of getting her shit together on behalf of young white women. I get that. If Broner was not black, I probably wouldn?t be writing this column and I certainly would not have such an emotional investment.
Perhaps Al Haymon does not have a sense of emotional investment or racial burden. I can respect that. I have nothing against a law abiding cold-blooded capitalist. Broner is however, a business investment for Al Haymon. One solution that Al Haymon can offer for the Broner problem is too freeze him out of lucrative paydays until he gets his act together. If Broner?s problems are due to substance abuse?I hope that?s the case, as it offers some type of ?explanation??, Haymon and Broner?s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, should demand that he attend rehab. If this is strictly a slow mental breakdown befalling Broner, Al Haymon should demand that Broner seek mental health counseling and some type of ongoing character building workshops.
Haymon?s incentive on this issue is financial in the sense that Broner is the future of pay-per-view boxing. Mayweather is pushing 40. Golden Boy superstar, Canelo Alvarez, is Mexican and speaks little English. Fighters in other stables like Andre Ward and Gennady Golovkin are lacking in various ways of ever being marketable pay-per-view stars. Adrien Broner is positioned to be the next ?One?, but he is proving to be incapable of handling the responsibility at the present time. Al Haymon, being a brilliant man, must be able to see 3 to 5 years down the line, and realize that Broner can be his next wallet fattening standard bearer. But if he is not brought under control, Broner will be known as an epic flame-out who lets the sport of boxing down when we need him most.
I was pleased to recently read that Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest fighters of all-time and an executive with Golden Boy Promotions, plans to speak with Adrien Broner. Hopkins was a violent criminal throughout his teens before being paroled from prison at the age of 23. Hopkins was unlike Trayvon Martin who had a minimal and trivial criminal history, despite the way so many smug white rightists try to paint young Martin as being a thug, hopeless and expendable. Many of these same hypocritical white rightists like to ignore their own past white boy minor criminal shenanigans, and those of the young white boys in their family, and even past young white boys who overcame adolescent mischief to become leaders in the country. I overcame my own pot smoking, fighting, school trouble making, and minor criminal adolescent past to now stand as a successful attorney with 10 years of experience. I slowly exit my 30?s with relief that I was given time to figure things out, before certain elements in society deemed me dangerous, useless and expendable.
Bernard Hopkins was a real legit, dangerous, criminal, ex-con. Yet, Hopkins made a decision at the age of 23 to turn his life around. He showed the self -love and determination to refuse to become a standard ?dead or in jail? statistic. Hopkins refused to further feed into the thought processes of certain demographics in society, who would opine that he was something lesser, that should be removed from a free and hope filled population. Hopkins devoted himself to a craft, lived a crime free life of self-discipline, demanded respect from the white establishment every step of the way, and has secured himself a great legacy and financial security. Adrien Broner would do himself a great service by listening to what Bernard Hopkins has to offer as a black male mentor and inspiration.
There are some solutions to this Adrien Broner problem, but it really comes down to what he wants for himself. My mother owns a successful consulting firm, and there is one motto that she has adopted as somewhat of a way of life- ?Focus on the end result.?
That is very good advice. If one were to ask Broner what he ultimately wants as an ?end result?, I believe that he would say that he wants to be rich, famous, and known as one of the greatest fighters of all-time. That is an attainable goal, but every end result requires the patience, discipline, and self-respect to get there. Broner?s elders, black men of wealth and knowledge, need to try to stir Broner towards this goal. I sincerely hope that Broner can be saved from himself. These humiliating meltdowns are a slow cry for help. Broner seems addicted to self sabotage. I paraphrase one of my favorite writers, the late Roger Ebert, in stating that inside of every addict, there is a person with dignity and self-respect struggling to get out. The elders in the black community need to help Broner set that man free.
