By: Sean Crose
Adrien Broner has lost to numerous opponents over the years. It’s been said that he stopped growing as a fighter at some point. It’s also been said that he was a good, but never great fighter who ended up being the victim of his own hype. These things may or may not be true. There’s little doubt, on the other hand, that Broner’s greatest opponent has always been himself. Ten years ago the man was seen by many, if not most, as an arrogant, antisocial punk who needed to be put in his place. Their wish came true when he was defeated by Marcos Maidana at the Alamodome in 2013.
Since that time, it’s been pretty much downhill for the fighter nicknamed “The Problem.” For starters, Broner has fought only 11 times in the near decade since the loss to Maidana. In that time period he’s earned a record of 6-3-1. With that in mind, the man has never lost to fight to anyone who wasn’t sky high competition. Manny Pacquiao, Mikey Garcia and Shawn Porter were all cream of the crop fighters, after all. Before the Maidana fiasco, however, people had expected Broner to be the next Floyd Mayweather. One has to wonder what kind of impact that had on Broner as he continued suffering losses to the sport’s bigger names.
Indeed, Broner’s psyche is impossible – or near impossible – to ignore. This sort of thing can be expected from those who market their personalities as Broner has, but his particular case seems to be fairly acute. From sex tapes, to flushing what appeared to be cash down a toilet, to arrests, to what looked to be cries for help on social media, the Cincinnati native has long drawn a large amount of attention to himself. Yet Broner has also shown the ability to acknowledge his personal issues. What’s more, Broner is still only 33 years of age. In other words, it’s not impossible for the public to see a turnaround, both in and out of the ring.
And at this point, people should be hoping to. Whatever his flaws, no one should want to see someone fall, then remain fallen. This is particularly true in the case of boxers, who are famously known to pull themselves out of humble backgrounds by virtue of grit and skill. Next weekend, Broner will face Michael Williams in a scheduled 10 round pay per view event. It will be his first fight in two years. Will it be the start of something new, or more of the same? Win or lose, let’s hope it’s the former.