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