The way we felt about it
wasn’t "normal", it happens only a few times in the sport of boxing with the last
occurrence in 2001 when Marco Antonio Barrera exposed Naseem Hamed as an HBO
construction. Boxing is emotional, and the way we respond to fighters is the
most visceral in sports, even more raw than Football because fighters are more psychologically
accessible. We root for football players, but we can’t see ourselves in any of
them; in fact we can’t see them at all. But Boxers are shirtless, and many of
them aren’t as big as we are so in some way their personalities are more
important to us than Football players who are encouraged to spew clichés in
accordance with the corporate behemoth they represent. Football players rarely
evoke hatred and though we love them it isn’t as personal as our love for
boxers- which is why their mortality reminds us of our own. Few fighters have
courted hatred in such a misguided, uninformed and unproductive way as Adrien
Broner and I fear that he isn’t finished going down this path.
I don’t have to itemize the
many things that led to that as whipping last month, the reasons are many and varied-
I can only touch on the two driving expressions that he seems to struggle with
inside. Bravado and Courage, both are distinct within themselves and yet
somehow when one lacks character the former is easily mistaken for the later.
Broner and his following grow up around Bravado and see it as a laudable
characteristic, they even see it rewarded in industries like Hip Hop and the
drug game. Many young black men cultivate Bravado to cope with an upbringing
without men and the results have led
to men who primp, preen and talk about material goods- ironically both
characteristics were associated with women 50 years ago. Broner latched
on to someone else’s marketing formula through lack of character and courage,
it takes a brave person to be themselves and stand on their own merit but when
you lack an authentic personality this is foreign to you. Broner has every
reason to be arrogant about his level of talent but Floyd Mayweathers Bravado
was rooted in a maniacal work ethic and resume -the courage came later when he
rejected the price HBO (AKA “Boxing”) tried to put on his services.
Bravado or “Swag” is easy to
perpetuate when you are fed a steady diet of mismatches and assumptions but
courage is the ability to recognize that like a baby your food is being puréed
for you. Marcos Maidana at the very least could understand that Broner would
brag in the lead up to the fight but what Broner showed instead (low character)
must have made him sleep like a baby. Maidana had already showed courage in
victory and defeat, Broner didn’t even know he was being commended for having the
courage to step in with the Argentinian in the first place. He was too busy
showing bravado; he was too busy blustering about an easy fight to take much
deserved credit for taking a hard one. When he simulated humping Maidana the
gesture backfired with the same folks he wasted so much time trying to impress-
because real thugs don’t act like that when it’s time to fight. Broner was so
focused on humiliating Maidana (as with previous opponents) he couldn’t be
bothered with putting his hands on him enough to win. Bravado is an impediment
to “appropriate fear”, the kind of fear that is the driving fuel behind some of
Boxing’s greatest performances.
Had Floyd Mayweather stood in
front of Diego Corrales (in 2001) mugging and showing off for friends he might
not be sharp and coherent enough to be the “face of boxing” in 2013.
That is why Maidana’s initial
attack was so devastating, the shock on Broner’s face said it all; he’d only
prepared himself mentally to show how much “swag” he had, when did he anticipate
having to display courage? One never knows. Al Haymon and Floyd Mayweather can’t
give you character, and Band Camp rappers are never obligated to take hard
punches to the face- their services can strictly be filed under “bravado
management”-an abstract. Even when showing courage Broner let his bravado keep
him from laying it all on the line, he never faught to win in the middle rounds,
he merely faught to save the face bravado created. His punch output was still
low, and he was still “too cool for school” for a man in the ring with someone
who is trying to kill him. Ali used bravado to win “round one” against Foreman
but he’d long mastered his fears which allowed him to show courage when Big
George unloaded on him against the ropes. Without substance bravado is eventually
going to be tested, even Joe Frazier understood that he may have dusted Ali off
and shut his mouth for an evening in 71’ but Ali’s courage guaranteed he’d see
him again.
Courage is taking
vulnerable moments and viewing them as opportunities
Opportunity that even his
idol has never enjoyed- the chance to bond yourself on a deeper level with fans
through defeat. Floyd Mayweather is an outlier due to his elite matchmaking
talents post Top Rank, but the one thing he can’t afford is what Sugar Ray
Leonard paid for in blood. Leonard is beloved for his conduct in and out of the
ring in the first Duran fight; the last years ESPN Documentary about the two fights only
solidified the Sugar Ray myth. How he dealt with challenge and loss is
something we can all relate to, Broner had an opportunity to join us (as Prince
would say) “in this thing called life”- and all he needed in that moment was a little courage. The
door was open, and he could have secured Latin fans that wouldn’t just tune in
out of hate but respect as they did with Shane Mosley. He couldn’t do it, and
believe it or not that weakness to Bravado will make him a cinch to get KO’d if
he’s ever challenged again. Bravado is rooted in delusion; the guy who makes
the most noise about his “bitches” is probably the guy wounded the most by a
past girlfriend- and in circles like Broner's this isn’t OK. If you can’t “feel”
then you can’t get your mind right enough to overcome, and if you’re going to
the club on the same night how do you find the mirror required for real
transcendence?.
Broner recently stated that
he would continue “as if nothing ever happened” as his mentor sits idly by
endorsing the self-defeating bravado. Boys continue on as if nothing ever
happened, narcissistic children simply change venues when things require
courage- now that he has his rematch in April what will be different?. Sugar
Ray Leonard KNEW something happened to him in Montreal, he also had the courage
to be away from people who would lie to him about it. Boys full of bravado
never get a real "sense of the room", which is why Broner’s antics always seemed
to fall lame on the public. Leonard knew if he dealt with the loss accurately
he’d come back from a place of courage and not the denial exhibited by Broner.
He's now going back to Maidana and I'm not sure he's done any self reflection. In the next fight he has to shut his mouth because
there are no words that can save him from what we saw, and the only way to fix
it requires a great deal of courage. This is not about money, and Floyd is no
position (having avoided a prime Pacquiao) to tell Broner his payday and infamy
can somehow make it easy to fool the man who beat him down. In fact when (and if)
Broner subscribes to this empty course he isn’t hurting nor fooling Maidana,
he’s ducking and lying the most important foe he’ll ever face….himself.
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