By Sean Crose
So now the Marcos Maidana camp is being investigated for some suspicious happenings that occurred during Maidana’s dazzling upset of Adrien “The Problem” Broner last Saturday night at the Alamo Dome. There’s a video out, in case you don’t know, showing, some say, Maidana receiving a pill in his corner. Or is it powder of some kind? Or is it heroin? Or is it just a Kleenex? Not to worry, the Texas Boxing Commission aims to find out.
Of course the snarky side of me wonders why the Texas Boxing Commission hasn’t bothered to find out why Texas boxing matches tend to be so controversial, but that’s neither here nor there. People want an investigation and they’re going to get it. I don’t know what the Commission’s findings will be, but I’m no prophet. If Maidana’s camp did nothing wrong, then they have nothing to fear (then again, we are talking Texas here).
What’s particularly disturbing in all this, though, is Broner’s behavior (at least it is if TMZ has its facts right). Seriously, can the guy take one single second not to act like a total jerk? According to TMZ, Broner’s “confident the investigation will prove Maidana cheated.” I know, I know, I’ve said boxers should be judged for their boxing, not their behavior. Yet Broner’s behavior here does indeed pertain to his boxing. He got thrashed and now TMZ reports he’s claiming it was because someone cheated.
News flash, Adrien: there’s a good, a very good, possibility you simply got bested on Saturday night. Rather than point fingers, why not try to fix what so clearly went wrong? Honestly, even if Maidana did take something (and I’m certainly not suggesting or saying he did), you could have looked a whole lot better out there. The way you were being bounced about the ring, you’d have thought Maidana’s gloves were loaded with bricks.
But self-awareness doesn’t seem to be Broner’s strong suit. At this point he doesn’t seem to be capable of possessing any self-awareness at all. Any mature fighter and all around good sport would simply say that it’s up to the Texas Commission to decide whether Maidana cheated or not and leave it at that. That’s apparently not the case with Broner, though. It seems he’s still the same guy who ran from the ring after the decision was read at the Alamo Dome.
It seems he’s still the guy who’s unable (to use a Texas-style term) to cowboy up.
This is all actually rather sad. When you really look at Broner, and I mean really look at him objectively, it’s hard to conclude that the guy isn’t pathetic. He’s childish to a degree that seems almost clinical. The boasting, the constant need for attention, the unsportsmanlike conduct…it’s all pretty depressing behavior for a grown man to engage in.
Yet right when fight fans might want to pity him, right when they might begin to develop some empathy for the man, things like TMZs report comes out. Just imagine the good will Broner might have gotten if he simply said he’d wait and see. How refreshing would that have been? Sadly, though, it looks like such graciousness is simply too much to ask of the man.
Scratch that…it’s simply too much to ask of the boy.
Truth be told, it’s hard to see Broner going too far in the fight game at this point. Any twelve step program worth its weight in salt expounds personal responsibility. An addict won’t clean up until he admits he’s an addict. An alcoholic won’t become sober until she admits she’s an alcoholic. And Broner won’t be a success until he admits he’s acting like a failure – now both in and out of the ring.