Adrien Broner and the lines of Demarcation

Have you ever looked at two extremely talented people given the same opportunities and the same support and wonder why one is a success and the other a pariah? What if neither was lazy, both applied themselves according to the same endeavor and yet one of them isn’t what his talent suggested he’d be. Many entertainers with “A list” talent achieve Cult status but never reach the top of the money pyramid, despite everyone acknowledging them as a cut above the rest. The NBA draft is coming up in a week and GM’s can’t wait to get their hands on a baller with max contract potential at the top of the second round, delaying the fiscal reality of having to pay him for a couple of years- a win for everyone involved but the player. Boxing is filled with guys who do special things, and often lack of appeal and the political power wielded by promoters keep “fighter A” from being what all signs predicted he’d be in the beginning. There’s more Ricardo Williams’ than Mayweathers, more burnouts than legends- and it’s not always the luck of the draw, a random setback in the hardest game-theres foretelling. Simply being with the right people is only half of the battle, just ask Victor Ortiz- maintaining the kind of market excitement needed will generally dictate whether you get to play in the oncoming Post Mayweather PPV Playpen. And simply being able to fight and being rude enough to say “anything” won’t get that number one position filled no matter what Al Haymon tells you.

Which brings me to Adrien Broner

I’ve never seen a fighter so young set the bar so high for turning my stomach while actually coming up refreshingly short of what I believed he was capable of. While it was disgusting to inject “the girl who will go unnamed on my blog” into the least gracious post fight interview ever I was mildly surprised he didn’t sink lower- and I shouldn’t feel that way about someone who has everything lined up to be the next guy they tell you is the "face" of Boxing. Sorry Paulie, it’s the right connections in combination with clean and effective punching that made Saturday look like heated sparring between a Junior Middleweight and Light Welterweight- punches to the face always beat punches to the elbows. The judging is not what we should be judging, it’s the missed opportunity (by Broner) to show your “inner Mayweather” and shift into a mode of conduct that underlies the brashness- intelligent people call it nuance, my Mama called it “acting like you got some damned sense”. Markets are volatile and what Al Haymon and Floyd Mayweather say now won’t matter in 2023, there’s no guarantee that being an asshole ala Mayweather circa 2006 is a sound business model in 2014. Boxing is fluid, like Hip Hop. There’s something a little alarming and startlingly naive for Adrien Broner to believe Mayweather like riches await him, especially when he’s eliminated Floyd from ever being an opponent. If he is a student of Mayweathers rise to stardom you would think he noticed the way Floyd subtly mixed a thoughtful intelligence in with the “wrasslin heal” he portrays, that Broner's “Problem” may be in his “dumbed down” interpretation of something already patently dumb in the first place. Rolling your shoulders is no guaranteed trip to the cover of Forbes, and what people have to deal with behind the scenes may be just as important as the greatness exhibited when the lights come on.

Many fighters maximize earnings by being a jerk before the fight, Ali lifted it from Gorgeous George and Mayweather turned it into a modern art form- but dammit if your black you better be smart and Broner appears to be a dull bulb. How else can you explain his brand of humor? The fake wedding proposal center ring was more than crass-it was an invitation for “confirmation bias” against young black men-he may as well eat a bucket of chicken! Dudes that even laughed at it are less likely to marry, maintain a job nor ever be head of household- and it doesn’t take Michael Eric Dyson to figure that one out; it was gutter humor at a time when you should make us feel not so dirty about watching fights. That his Father stood there laughing was only further evidence that something is deeply wrong here, I mean if you can’t check that behavior why are you even around dad? There are lines of demarcation to being “that guy” and gold grills often cross it, even among the worst of us some can get away with “it” and some can’t- and cunning beats talent every day of the week. In history most criminals are arrested or die like Tony Montana and a select few pass away peacefully sunbathing in the Cayman Islands having committed the same crimes; because the endgame is in the details, the boring everyday precautions that guys like Jay Z and Floyd Mayweather Never Tell You.

Mayweather will simply sit back,  call him “family” and watch him hang himself.

Broner can move among sharks in the streets of Cincinnati and anyone from 135-154 lbs. including “his idol” but I want him to think bigger than that- because the real sharks are in suits. Interviews aren’t about impressing your boys, or keeping it “real” and stupid, Broner should be mindful that the man he’s mimicking was shut out of the big money until he was 30…because he couldn’t draw and nobody was doing him any favors. After that interview would any of you bet on him keeping his nose clean for 7 years? What if there’s no De La Hoya? What if Canelo Alvarez decides losing to one loudmouth legend was enough and he need not lose to that legends “mini me” in 2016. Broner had the opportunity Saturday to co-opt an important Northeast audience the way Floyd did in Atlantic City when he defeated Arturo Gatti back in 2005- but he chose to stay in the schoolyard, what’s next prank calls? “I took your belt and your girl” is one of those "one liners" that feel good in the moment, but it’s more fitting of UStream or YouTube at best- and Paulie's over the top response only let the Middle School Class Clown off the hook. All it takes is one pointed comment or a condescending look (See Merchant vs. Mayweather) from an “adult” in the room and Broner is the object of much deserved ridicule. The Twitter audience aint your friend bro, and had Paulie gave a measured “ grow up clown” and stayed away from going all Alex Jones on Boxing Broner's silliness would be under the hot light of the microscope.

We should be asking, what’s wrong with this dude?

We don’t demand fighters act like they love one another after such a heated promotion but we do like to believe each combatant is a man when it’s over. In fact we like to be reassured that neither man is small, because it makes us feel a little bit smaller for wasting our time watching them. When someone of Broner's talent “went there” it reminded us that there’s no sure thing in Boxing, that sometimes something happens after a fight that may be the first ripple in the water of that guy  (later) being overwhelmed by his own bullshit. We aren’t seeing transcendent discipline like a Floyd Mayweather; we’re seeing a good little fighter doing his interpretation of Floyd-minus the character that is way more important than you think. Boxing owes talent absolutely nothing, and there’s a way to be the “bad guy” without coming off as a bad guy, a way to leave a slither of something fans can grab onto when they want someone to love. As of this writing Broner is what Malignaggi says he is, a “rapper who can fight a little bit” and there’s no assurance the PPV waters will part for an asshole who can’t even fake it long enough to get to where he’s going. The one person Broner should get “personal” with is the person who can make him rich no matter what we think- but he won’t realize it until that person is retired and telling us he knew there was something wrong with the kid.

Trash talk is funny, it can tell you a man’s IQ, his motivation and whether or not he can handle himself when things don’t go his way. Most importantly the line of demarcation is drawn by those listening to it, and subconscious decisions are made- time will only tell if this Broner individual is just “talking shit” or full of it.

I’ll play the “Choose my next Opponent” game Broner wants us to play by picking the winner of Matthysse vs. Garcia. Garcia can box with him and touch him and Matthysse will dare him to stand there and talk as he did against Malignaggi. @brothaboxing

 

 

Chad Johnson slapping his lawyer's ass

Michael Jordan; In Defense of the Tyrant

“All Men would beTyrants if they could” Daniel Defoe

 

It was bound to happen, when one man dominates so thoroughly and runs roughshod over a generation of foes with no remorse the day will come when his inferiors get the pleasure of picking at his carcass. Getting old is a bitch, especially when you’ve “paid the cost to be the Boss”; now everybody you trampled going up can put you under the harsh light of perspective and mortality on the way down. Michael Jordan is 50, but his spirit is still the same, if he could have taped up for Indiana last week  he would have -which is what made him special-infinitely more special than Scottie Pippen. But now he can only play golf, run a crappy franchise and absorb the pot shots aimed at him from former contemporaries and rivals-and watch as the incomparable LeBron James is used as a proxy for the frustrations of those who couldn’t step to him on their own merit years ago. Wilt Chamberlain once said “Nobody likes Goliath”, but he probably didn’t intend on the next “giant” to be a 6’6 guard. Magic Johnson is lauded for doing Majesty in a way that frankly none of us normal guys would, because human nature has proven that most of us if given power earned or unearned would be assholes-just like MJ. So I for one want to defend Michael Jordan against the Alonzo Mourning’s of the world, because when Michael was ruling the landscape Mourning and his ilk had every opportunity to spill his blood and couldn’t.

So now like little School girls they live vicariously through a self-appointed King.

 

How surprised were you when he made his HOF speech?

Really? You watched a man play like his ass was on fire for 13 years, step to anybody (including “enforcers” like Xavier McDaniel) head on who challenged his supremacy and now you’re surprised he’s kind of a jerk? Scottie Pippen is the most underappreciated basketball player in history, but I’d appreciate him more if he were man enough to simply call Mike a dick and stop making LeBron the instrument of his redemption. Get it over with Scottie, you let us know that LeBron can “kick Mike’s ass” because you couldn’t- and it kept you from demanding the credit you deserved. Michael Jordan’s reign of terror came with megalomania and transgressions against teammates but not one of them had the courage of a Horace Grant who made a conscious choice to do what was right for himself. Grant may not have 6 rings like Pippen but he’s got his money and his peace of mind which allows him to speak the truth to power, just notice how he isn’t in a rush to chump Michael off as if it’s so easy for James to supplant him. He’s at (personal) peace, something you can’t arrive at when you don’t at least try to hit the bully back- Grant did and on his own terms with Orlando. That Eastern conference finals victory in 1995 may have been counterfeit but it was good enough for him to look himself in the mirror. Larry Bird foretold Michael as a Basketball Tyrant and shared the same jerk DNA, and in interviews his logic told him LeBron is better than Kobe but his instinct tells him he could win “more” with Kobe-because “game recognize game”, jerk game that is. He burned like Michael burned, and probably shrugged at all of the Hall of Fame “outrage” generated by the unsettling peak inside MJ’s mind- former Bulls/Orlando Magic GM Pat Williams calls it a “Predator” mindset which is much different than the “competitor” mindset of LeBron James.

I had a friend (a former Bulls cheerleader) take great pleasure from how MJ was used and jettisoned by the Wizards ownership group because she personally witnessed him as the voracious shark in Chicago waters- and it felt good to view him as corporate prey to men who make money without having to sweat. Michael’s time in uniform emblazoned Omega Psi like scars real and imagined on a generation of proud men and when they “throw shade” in 2013 you can see the leaky puss. Michael stood up at that podium and called out everybody but the fucking janitor and still after all of these years cats just cringed and took it, now that’s some Nino Brown shit. The secret desire every man has is to defeat all of his adversaries and tell him about it to his damned face, twice! and there isn’t a media blowhard that could talk any of you out of it if you could get away with it. To this day he’s as accessible as Howard Hughes and in that lack accessibility there’s power, the kind that engenders backlash, awe and an attempt to deconstruct the myth. At this stage in the Tyrants life many try to use Kobe and LeBron to humanize him but comparison only sheds light on the one thing that nobody can impugn-his reputation. For all that he may not have been he was never humbled and for that those who were have an obligation to make him pay for his audacity.

Law of Power #5 Guard your Reputation with your Life

Old Heads love them some LeBron, and it’s a myth that we don’t, but not at the expense of Mike-he’s put in his work and we’ll guard his rep with our own. It isn’t about being old; it’s merely about the predictability of explosiveness, of seeing NBC run commercials a week from a Madison Square Garden appearance asking “will he go for 50?” You could pencil in “where were you when?” performances and there’s nothing that sticks in your head like “running” a local park 10 game straight with your boys and having that one homie give you that look that says “ our dynasty is over because Mike is coming on in an hour. Maybe we were more alive then because we too were running full court ourselves, but I’ll be damned if we’re gonna let Alonzo Mourning tell us anything about Michael Jordan. In our memory he was one of the inanimate objects Michael use to jump over on his way to 50, just another dude who Michael TOLD he wasn’t gonna do shit about it, and he didn’t until Mike was long gone. MJ’s reputation may be up to debate for those who are paid to make everything a metric or revisionist history but to a nation of OG’s his reputation is unassailable. When you’re 16 years old you don’t give a shit whether he was as nice or inclusive as Magic and you don’t care if the same can be said about LeBron now.

Law of Power #2 never put too much Trust in Friends

Charles Oakley is the real hangout, but Charles Barkley plays the best friend on TV, the one you can roll out to legitimize any shot you want to take at the throne. Few friendships endure between cats that wanted the same thing and one friend got it all, the girl, the job, whatever it is. Magic and Bird thrive because they both got a piece of one another, and Bird knows you can’t have the 1980’s without the Celtics. Barkley is comfortable in his own skin but in defense of Jordan he was made to accept that because Champion was not going to be a part of his “skin”. Many of you have that friend who is either doing better or worse than you and you wouldn’t want either to be an authority on you. Mikes friends are always going to be cats on the low, maybe anonymous, but never dudes in a position to let envy make them dangerous. I never bought Barkley as his #1 homeboy and I never will, I truth I think Barkley is a dude he’s cool with, who tickles him to death-especially in 1993.

Law of Power #15 Crush your enemy totally

Unlike Kobe and LeBron when Michael got in position to compete for championships there were no more questions about which the 1990’s would belong to. When he caught up to Isiah, it was a wrap-there was to be no back and forth-no “we’ll get you guys next year”. Had the world been more evolved and Magic been able to play he would have won no more, and Michael had little problem letting him know it during the legendary Dream Team scrimmage in 1992. Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and John Stockton on the court at once in those same Olympics drew jam-packed crowds and none of them were allowed to win a damned thing after the ceremonies closed due to Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Before him, losing in the finals wasn’t the scarlet letter it is today, but he so thoroughly demoralized a generation that it became a discussion topic-for the first time since Russell we had to consider a man’s mental makeup as a determining factor. Barkley is the only former foe with a bully pulpit and he attacks Michael “the executive” at every opportunity, a lame recourse for the athlete who experienced the rarest opportunity in a man’s life-to physically kick somebodies ass for a living. Karl Malone is so crushed he can’t even stomach the idea of picking Jordan on his All Time starting 5, a group that nobody who knew basketball would pick him for. LeBron and Kobe have to live with several “what about that time” a moment in their career, but Michael Jordan lives with crickets and hushed tones- not all of them kind.

Only Two Men Deserve to “BEEF” with MJ, Isiah Thomas and Craig Hodges

Both are from the City Michael ruled but they both have reasons that I consider Political and significant to still have a “thing” for MJ. Isaiah Thomas had his legacy muted and obscured by Michael, few remember how thoroughly he and his Bad Boys put it on the Bulls-built I do. I remember sitting there welling up and feeling like the Bulls would never break through, hating the Pistons for the physical brand of ball they played. But I’m an adult now, and since then I’ve tugged a few shorts and ran off a few illegal screens and I wouldn’t give back one bucket I made or prevented. Isiah “son’d” MJ and like any rebel his punishment was disproportionate to set an example for anyone who dares challenge a Tyrant. Isiah deserved to be on the Dream Team, in fact he deserved to start and be Co-Captain because his pedigree merited the assignment. The NBA had no right to present the Olympic opportunity to Mike in such a way that allowed him veto power over Thomas; they should have assembled the team and made it something he couldn’t refuse. There were no amount of hard fouls that should have led to such an omission, and the fact that Jordan admitted it so many years later suggests that he knew as the years went by it was a small thing to do-the NBA should have saved the brotha from himself.

Craig Hodges was politically outspoken and was cool with Farrakhan at a time when the Nation of Islam leader was coming to the attention of the ADL and powerful media forces. I’m not a fan of the man myself for reasons pertaining to Malcolm X but his theories on our young men and the messages that harm them do hit home with me. Craig called MJ out for not using his power to be more to our youth than a slam dunking sneaker selling machine, and he’s right-in fact what is MJ to the “20 something” crowd who inherited his brand from their parents?. Clearly he is the representation of what NBA Ballers want to be today, a brand, something sterile and corporate and of no cultural significance to young Black Men. What Hodges got for this challenge was blackballed from a league that was always in need of shooters, where Steve Kerr went into the front office Hodges damned near went into the poorhouse for his political consciousness. He deserves to have “beef” with MJ, and those of you who call him a “conspiracy theorist” take a look out your window and ask yourself if he could have left us more than 200$ shoes.

 

 

Mayweather/Alvarez is Signed! Look for New Lows From Malignaggi and Broner

On its surface Pauli Malignaggi vs. Adrien Broner can only turn out to be one of two things; A: a bigger talented veteran stunting the progress of a special fighter, or B: that special fighter easing his way into a more lucrative weight class. That’s it, and it you are a pragmatist that’s all it can ever be- unless Broner is intending on calling out his “idol” Floyd Mayweather post bout. But this is Boxing, the last sacred space of all things politically incorrect- so much so that Media Matters wouldn’t dare come snooping around these hur streets looking to make a name off of us. We don’t have to abide by the PC gestapo taking over all corners of public life, we’re boxing man- and with that comes an implicit understanding that we’re incapable of sinking to the gutter because we “are” the gutter son. Our only portal to the mainstream is a fighter who got out of jail for assaulting his girlfriend who then generated over 80 million dollars. Before that he could be seen calling his father a bum and a faggot on HBO- Chris Broussard received more attention from the PC Police for declaring himself a damned Christian! Malignaggi vs. Broner from the announcement was always going to be the Gatti/Ward for shit talkers but strangely both men have blown their wads in the early rounds and there’s only one place to go from there and that’s down.

Remember, shit talking isn’t really rooted in wit or any well thought out agenda; in fact some of the most consistent shit talkers are for lack of a better word... stupid. Ali and Hopkins don’t talk shit they pontificate, and Mayweather is more of a provocateur who wants to be loved-his “shit” is slow to unfold like his fight game. Guys like Ricardo Mayorga have a spigot for vile nonsense with little substance, on the trash talk nutritional pyramid Cotton Candy or butter comes to mind- illicit going down but largely forgettable. Malignaggi and Broner can produce this kind of bullshit at a prolific clip because it is integrated in their personalities; with Broner being the younger of the two and thus more malignant. And yet, this fight set off something in both men that made them come out swinging at a ridiculous punch count rate, to the degree where the IQ points of those present at the first press conference were lowered by 10. Speed can reduce vision, and now we have two guys who have said every vile thing that can be said with almost 5 weeks to go until the June 22 fight! To make Matters worse Floyd Mayweather just flexed his muscle with the stroke of a pen and agreed to fight Canelo Alvarez, pride of Mexico and biggest draw in Boxing.

Talk about Peaking Too Soon

Trash talk is like weight, you gotta let it build to a fine point for optimum performance, Malignaggi and Broner couldn’t have imagined they’d be battling Money Mayweather for space in our minds. Broners “Girlfriend” stunt was clearly misplayed and would have come off better in the next to last Presser, he not only lacks Mayweather nuance and charisma but he also lacks the PR calculation. Floyd gets personal late in the buildup; he also allows the opponent to show his hand first and drops little dismissive nuggets as time goes on. Floyd is especially good at nibbling around the edges of a guy’s personal narrative, implying his opponent is not as genuine as he portrays-this is sophisticated stuff developing over weeks. Together Malignaggi and Broner have covered about everything that makes boxing the last bastion of Political Incorrectness in about two weeks and with the “announcement” it feels like a year ago. The Misogyny came out early as both men categorized one “” as a “piece of ass” that Pauli considers “weekend pussy” that of course Broner is now claiming as a new possession. Newsflash, a lot of Alpha Males feel this way about women and Boxing requires Alpha males from the ring to the dude carrying the spit bucket .Broner rather flippantly implied Malignaggi may have been violent with the young lady both men have clearly reduced to a “thing” and somehow not one socially plugged in feminist I know asked me about it.

Because it’s boxing, and there’s no Political or Corporate Power to be gained by going after anyone in it. An uncomfortable truth about getting shit done in America, don’t plan on seeing Gloria Allred at a Boxing press conference anytime soon.

The Next Frontier is Race, because there’s no place else to go and you can’t allow consumers to sober up and see the fight for the “Good vs. Special” snoozer it can turn out to be. Only Racial BS can take our eyes off of the Magical Mayweather vs. Alvarez showdown and these two just may be up to the challenge.

Racial "quips" in Boxing Happen in a Vacuum and can totally happen before June 22nd

Even Roberto Duran swore that “No Black Man can beat me” and it wasn’t long ago that one of the Promoters of the June 22^nd event said the same about “white boys”. Boxing is not only the last Bastion of Political Incorrectness it’s the only Sport that traffics in ethnic rivalry-you can be your damned Latin self and still get American love in our game. If two fighters EVER embodied the ethnic stereotypes that take people into that (uncomfortable) place where stereotyping is possible (or even acceptable) it is Broner and Malignaggi. Boxing is a sport that can’t be policed by the sensitive because Boxing is all about desecration; blood sports aren’t beholden to the neither MSNBC crowd nor Bill Maher. Fighters desecrate the body to prepare for battle, and soon after that same body is desecrated by the opponent- so desecrating one another verbally is nothing to a fighter. In fact, rarely do fighters hold grudges based on something that was “said” in a promotion, Joe Frazier was an exception due to the times and the fact that Ali was a pioneer in hurt speech. In the Media Matters Universe words hurt and political outrage can enforce coded behavior but in Boxing punches hurt-and language is make believe when you can ultimately stick a fist in a guy’s mouth.

If you look at the guys around these two fighters don’t think for one minute Race hasn’t come up off camera, Malignaggi is surrounded by typical Brooklyn “knock around guys” and Broner is actually a Rapper for Christ sakes. These aren’t cats who sign online petitions about saving a rare species of koala bear; these are guys who probably follow the code of verbal desecration carried out in the streets, in songs and in prisons-which are by the way influenced by ethnic rivalries too. Just like Boxing. Mexican Fans, the best fans in the sport are now daydreaming about Canelo dropping Mayweather (good luck with that) in September-and it’s going to take the ugliest in human nature to get them focused on June 22^nd.

Daniel Snyder just received a letter from Congress about the name “Redskins”; only a huge deal because this discourse is unfolding between white men in suits. Hundreds of Millions exchange hands between the NFL and sponsors while networks pay billions (with a B) to broadcast the games, but the top paid athlete in the word is a Boxer with no endorsements who once said a potential opponent (of Filipino decent) should “make me some shrimp fired rice”-in other words there’s nobody to aim your outrage at and there’s no political advantage in going after shirtless guys with no Q Rating. Threatening to ruin a Boxer is like threatening to kill a zombie because most will never gain public identification outside of the boxing fans that follow them on Twitter. Now that Mayweather has announced his intention to fight Canelo Alvarez on September 14^th Malignaggi and Broner are in desperation mode because those who get their sports from ESPN’s Sports ticker believe it’s the only fight they should even consider.

The Race Card is the last one in the Promotional deck

“Sissy” and “Bitch” aren’t really front burner material by this stage, neither is a feather fisted Malignaggi’s prediction to “urinate” on Broner once he KO’s him. That’s pretty gross, but did anyone see what Canelo is opening at? What? + 220?. The Mayweather clone jab isn’t really potent because it’s the worst kept secret in Boxing, and not really interesting considering Broner readily admits to wanting to pattern himself after Money. Racial identity is the last frontier to be desecrated especially when there’s been a decided lack of civility and brains, so I for one won’t be offended. Broner isn’t above calling Malignaggi a "Wigger" or a "Dago", and he certainly isnt above the slur of implying Brooklyn’s finest is a “Guido” with Mafia ties. Paulie isn’t above reminding Broner what real Mafiosi thought of Black People, that “brotha’s” actually rap about drugs with pride when the mafia deliberately dropped the stuff in the hood because they felt blacks were less than human. I think the word used by Italians like legendary crime boss Sam Giancana was “Moolie”.Malignaggi is a Hip Hop kid, you can tell by the way he’s geared up complete with the baseball hat cocked to the side- and Hip Hop kids of all races are liberal with the word Nigga (not Nigger) and I say have at it. I’m ready for it, in fact I wasn’t offended when Hector Camacho dropped an “N bomb” back in the day on live TV-my reasoning being... uhm it’s boxing and he’s Hector Camacho.

 You’ll see these two loudmouths come out soon to close the festivities gearing up for the fight and trust me since Mayweather/Alvarez they will come out under pressure to offend for new eyeballs. Both men have to be even more obnoxious not just for this fight but to position themselves for something more lucrative than a date with old man Shane Mosley. Marquez vs. Bradley went scurrying to October in the bright glare of September 14^th and now Adrien and Paulie's battle of the douchebags better do something to wrestle that Sports ticker away. If you hear something that offends your idyllic view of the world, something that makes you wonder if we’ll ever post racial your thinking too hard. Hitting (or kicking) a man in the face like it or not will always be tribal, and if you look to Boxers for enlightened speech then something much deeper than “outrage” is wrong with you.

So Roll out the Fried Chicken and Spaghetti