It was not the answer he intended to give, and yet, it was the type of answer that should have been expected of him. Interviewed just prior to his ring walk, Adrien Broner, who dropped a lifeless decision to Shawn Porter in the ?Battle for Ohio? at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last night, dismissed the notion that the bad blood between he and the Porters, would persist beyond the final bell. Rather, Broner suggested that they might all go to dinner in the aftermath. Asked whether the winner of the fight would be gracious enough to cover the tab, Broner said, no, no, he would pay. Was this prophecy or idiocy?
Actually, it was quintessential Broner: a moment bungled in the perpetuation of an image by a man with money to burn (or flush) but nary a clue to his name. Let?s not stretch Broner on the therapist?s couch, though. There have been far too many words wasted on trying to psychoanalyze a fighter who is neither interesting enough outside of the ring nor effective enough within it, to warrant such attention. It is telling that his interview gaffe had nothing to do with his fight, with the inaction that has become as much his calling card as sequined shorts and shrugged shoulders. He is moving farther and farther away from being a prizefighter worthy of interest; less and less in on the joke as he more closely resembles one. Of course, as long as people are laughing he can brand himself a showman.
Porter, the humble and affable athlete-turned-fighter, is nothing like Broner, and not simply because he does not videotape himself in threesomes, get arrested for DUI?s, or go rounds with Paulie Malignaggi. Broner is a relatively skilled fighter; one with some understanding of how to parse an opponent and then apply his own tools accordingly. He did this to staggering effect at lightweight, where ?The Problem? walked down smaller opponents and did away with them with a swiftness befitting his dominance. Porter, on the other hand, while he embodies all of the adjectives scouts lavish on aspiring NFL halfbacks, fights artlessly. He is a fighter who cannot sublimate his fury to the demands of his craft.
Consider the sixth round of their fight last night (and by all means ignore the rest of them). In this round, Broner, Cincinnati, Ohio, started throwing a right uppercut/left hook combination whenever Porter stormed him. It was a tactic the moment called for?narrow, compact punches inside Porter?s clumsy swipes?and while Broner never landed this combination, it showed an understanding of combat Porter lacks. Unfortunately for Broner, in missing his counters he let Porter get inside, and it was there that mere grit won Porter the fight.
It was a simple game plan. Porter, born in Akron, Ohio, but now living in Las Vegas, is a welterweight lumberjack willing to fell a redwood with a hacksaw; he has no grasp of distance, and throws not so much in combination?with implies punches working in complement?as in succession. And though it can be blunted by a fighter who throws straight punches or dares walk Porter down?which Broner did too infrequently to be effective?there is a certain sloppy brilliance to his assault, since the criterion for its effectiveness is little more than effort. If Porter, 143 1/2, is landing, he appears to be winning, and if he is not landing, his opponent is holding, which only makes Porter appear the aggressor. What this strategy requires above all are stamina and determination, and while Broner tried to deny Porter both by demanding a 144-pound catchweight with a reported 154-pound rehydration clause, Porter retained his vigor.
So with Porter bouncing and barrelling, Broner, 143 1/2, struggled to unleash his more nuanced attack. He tried timing Porter with left hooks, but once ?Showtime? varied the rhythm of his rushes, Broner was unable to find him in space. Whiffing on hooks only to find Porter roiling in his lap, Broner repeatedly resorted to holding, and after seemingly dozens of warnings finally lost a point for it in the eleventh round. Broner got this point back in the twelfth when he dumped Porter on the canvas with a perfect left hook. If there is anything enigmatic about Broner, 30-2 (22), it is not his antics, but his comportment. Rather than press to finish his opponent, Broner skipped around the ring, ending the miscarriage of violence by squandering any chance he had of winning it. Scores read 114-112, 115-111, and 118-108 for Porter.
Set up to fail by Broner and advisor Al Haymon, who, in what can only be interpreted as an act of favoritism, endorsed the enfeebling catchweight stipulations, Porter, 26-1-1 (16), did enough to ensure his next blind mauling will air on NBC, the brightest stage available in the PBC universe. Broner, meanwhile, gave yet another answer he never intended to give; this time to the question of whether he will accomplish anything more than temporarily convincing a sport of lowering expectations that he could be its future.
