Former WBA welterweight Adrien Broner may be delusional. Known as The Problem, a rare instance of truth in labeling, Broner may have even more problems than we imagined. His problems outside the ring are a given but of no consequence. It?s his problems in the ring, as evidenced by the whupping he received from Marcos Maidana, that concern us here.
Broner has decided to fight Maidana again. Rather than pick up the pieces of a career in shambles by fighting someone he is sure to beat, the fighter everyone loves to hate is risking everything by fighting Maidana a second time. Broner, naturally, wants to avenge his sole defeat. He wants to prove the loss to Maidana was a fluke. He?s ready to show the world that he is exactly what he said he was, repeatedly and grandiloquently, and as it turns out none too convincingly.
Broner (27-1, 22 KOs) will attempt to regain his title and stature when he fights Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs) in April. Maidana, having defied the odds and solved The Problem, feels he earned the right to fight Floyd Mayweather. He took care of Broner once and is likely to take care of Broner again. Broner might be busier this time. Broner may abandon posturing and actually fight. But if being busier and fighting are the sum total of what Broner can bring to the table, he may be in more trouble than he knows.
But what Broner actually knows is anyone?s guess. He told ESPN, ?The rematch will have a different outcome guaranteed. I?m happy for [Maidana]. I want him to have his fifteen minutes of fame. At the end of the day, nobody is talking about his victory. They are talking about Adrien Broner?s loss. Some people don?t even know who I lost to. They just know I lost.?
Floyd Mayweather agrees. ?To be honest, the loss made him more famous,? Money told FightHype.com. ?The loss brought him more notoriety. Fame can be a gift and a curse. Now it?s a gift. It brought him more notoriety?everybody been talking about nothing but Adrien Broner.?
Mayweather is right. Fame is a double-edged sword. Of course people will talk, that?s what people do, and maybe those same people will talk about ?nothing but Adrien Broner.? But what are they saying? Are they talking about the courage he displayed in losing to Maidana? Or are they talking about the satisfaction they experienced at watching him lose? Playing the villain is all well and good if one continues to win. But a villain who loses is another story entirely.
Broner created something from nothing. He made a name for himself. He earned some money. But is that the only criteria for determining a person?s value? If so, it?s time to reevaluate the likes of repulsive Donald Trump. Should we celebrate his wealth while ignoring his buffoonery? Should we honor the Koch brothers, who, having more money than God, pollute the discourse in much the same way they pollute the environment?
Broner isn?t Trump. Nor is he the Kochs. He is a fighter, first and foremost and hopefully for all time. The rest of it, the hip hop and selfies and inflated ego mean squat, unless Broner the fighter, Broner the delusional, can prove his worth in the square circle.
