ADRIEN ?The Problem? Broner is currently fast making a name for himself as one of the most obnoxious characters ever to lace up a pair of gloves.
He?s taken a picture of himself taking a crap and posted it on Tweeter.
There?s a YouTube Video of him flushing down dollars in the toilet.
He?s a polarizing character, and some people can?t stand him or his vulgarity.
Last Sunday, after he defeated Paulie Malignaggi via split decision, he boasted that he ?left with his title and his girl,? in reference to the WBA welterweight crown, which he won and a certain Jessica, purportedly Malignaggi?s ex-girlfriend whom he is now dating.
The problem with ?The Problem? is that his post-fight shtick couldn?t quite live up to his performance during the fight itself.
THE FIGHT. This match-up was hotly contested on account of the trash-talking between these two popinjays, but the actual fight was much more subdued.
Malignaggi was his usual self, starting out fast and popping out jabs, but never really doing any damage. He moved and connected, while Broner threw counters sporadically.
Broner made his move in the third and fourth rounds when he started connecting crisply with uppercuts and left hooks, but couldn?t put together enough combinations.
In the middle rounds, Broner started to dominate, but with every punch connected, Paulie would land two or more powder duff blows.
Paulie seemed to rally hard in the ninth and tenth, landing some combinations, but by the championship rounds he was clearly beat. The bell rang with both men on their feet in a fight that went a lot closer than most pundits anticipated.
THE PROBLEM. The ?styles make fights? aphorism may probably be invoked, but nonetheless that fight highlighted a lot of potential weaknesses on Broner?s armor.
It showed that he had difficulty with a fighter possessed with superior if not comparable hand speed.
Malignaggi has fast hands, but that?s because he doesn?t commit to his punches and is almost always backing away from his opponent as soon as he lands. But there are a lot of speedy fighters out there who could land with some serious power.
Which brings us to the next quandary. Paulie landed 214 out of 843 thrown, but coming from a fighter who couldn?t punch his way out of a paperbag, Broner was lucky.
Imagine someone like Manny Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana or Lucas Matthyse landing 214 punches on Broner and things could get interesting.
Taken in perspective, it was a good win nonetheless for Broner who won his third title in as many weight classes and jumped two divisions to do it.
But the downside is that Malignaggi?s best days are behind him, and fighters like Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan knocked him out in the 11th round.
It was hardly the demolition job he bruited about, and it was disappointing to see him unable to pull the trigger at times.
The welterweight division right now is a testosterone pit full of hungry, formidable fighters like Matthyse, Maidana, Robert Guerrero.
Then of course, there?s Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao and even Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado who can easily move up to 147 lbs.
MAYWEATHER. Broner?s talent cannot be denied but his oft repeated comparisons to Floyd Mayweather Jr. at this stage in his career is simply premature.
I can?t imagine a young ?Pretty Boy? having a problem with a fighter like Malignaggi (Guerrero couldn?t land more than 120 punches against Floyd Jr. and he was constantly applying the pressure).
While Broner does employ a similar defensive style, it?s too early to tell whether or not he can take the punch of a bigger, stronger fighter.
At least with Floyd, after his bouts with Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and Shane Mosely where he got rocked, we know that his chin can hold up to the bombardment, and that he can regroup and win.
With Broner, it?s still quite a problem.
VERBATIM ?He was flat-footed and I just fee like with my career, you know, a lot of times they try to compare the two. You know, I love the kid, but you gotta realize, just look at my career.?Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Broner?s performance
