Adrien 'the problem' Broner
25th February 2012, Saint Louis, Missouri at the Scottrade Centre was where an evening of high profile professional boxing was hosted. The headline event being a 10 rounder between Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana. I recorded and watched this boxing show (as it was being televised in England on Sky Sports) the day after where I witnessed for the first time Adrien 'the problem' Broner instantly becoming a fan. In a Super Featherweight contest for the WBO strap the holder Broner took on Eloy Perez and produced 4 rounds of entertaining, tantalising, flashy slick boxing skills where he halted the challenger and put in an almost flawless performance worthy of the different circles of boxing media discussing him as 'the next big thing' in the boxing world. After his performance 'the problem' had his post fight interview where he was amusing and hugely confident, this fresh faced 22 year old had a certain charisma about him that painted the picture of a potential future superstar. Fast forward to present day and still a young 25 years of age the Cincinnati man has endured a controversial two years in his career. There has been huge success in this period as 'AB' shot his way up the weights becoming WBC Lightweight Champ then skipping past Light Welterweight to go straight up to the 147 pound division to become WBA Welterweight Champ becoming a three weight division champion at just 23 years of age. Despite the success Broner was starting to get more and more criticism for his behaviour outside the ring where unfortunately he was showing a side that can arguably be expected of a young adult experiencing the birth of super stardom and fame along with money, a huge entourage and of course girls. The 3 weight Champ was given his own TV show 'About Billions' where Broner didn't exactly paint himself in a positive light as a professional athlete. The 10 minute episodes largely consisted of the starlet partying with his entourage and shopping with large wads of cash but did occasionally show a small segment of 'the next Mayweather' training in the gym. Although the series gave more insight into the boxer's party lifestyle and character which sparked criticism among the boxing world, you can hardly blame Broner for taking this opportunity as you have to embrace and cherish the good times in the world of boxing for it can be known as the loneliest sport in the world if it all goes wrong. Then came December 14th 2013 and the champs first Welterweight title defence against Marcos Maidana. This fight was always going to be a test for Broner as 'el Chino' has always been a big hitter and is a threat to anyone in the 147lbs division as his two bouts with Mayweather this year proved. Circling the media again there was rumours that Broner was out of shape and possibly taking Maidana too lightly considering the champ expressed that he would have preferred to fight fellow Argentine Lucas Matthysse. Come fight night Broner lost by unanimous decision but showed tremendous heart, courage and toughness despite being dropped twice. The result was deemed as one of the shock upsets of 2013 which considering Maidana's fight pedigree is unfair to the Argentine. Broner had suffered his first professional defeat something many fans including myself thought would possibly never happen in his career or at least definitely not this early into his profession as a superstar. Broner made the sensible decision to move down the weight division he originally skipped and enter the 140 league. As a comeback fight Broner took on tough Mexican Carlos Molina and beat him on a 10 round decision in a fight that was deemed quite uneventful and a shutout win for the former champ. In his post bout interview Broner yet again caused more controversy as the self proclaimed 'can man' admitted the fight was a "sparring match on TV" and that it was "easy" before announcing to the huge Mexican fan base at the MGM Grand that he had "just beat the f**k out of a Mexican" and then called out a possible future fight against future hall of famer Manny Pacquiao. | Broner's first comeback fight at 140lbs against Carlos Molina |
Broner received a huge backlash for his comments and apologised before posting a video of himself later that month giving a homeless man $1000 showing a fantastic gesture of kindness. A fight with the young up comer Emmanuel Taylor was next where 'AB' returned to his hometown. The build up to the fight turned nasty with 'the problem' grabbing Taylor by the throat at a press conference but come fight night Broner and Taylor put on a fight of the year spectacle with the Cincinnati man winning by Unanimous Decision but also showing the power he carried at super feather and lightweight by knocking down the 'tranzformer' in the 12th round. In the post fight press conference both fighters expressed there respect towards each other showing good sportsmanship. The rumours then began about a possible mouth watering fight with Lucas Matthysse and in my opinion I believe Broner has had this successful 2014 tune up year and 2015 will bring the high profile match ups and world title fights. The likes of Matthysse, Provodnikov, Peterson, Vargas and Algeiri are all exciting possibilities and then there could even be Omar Figueroa, Terence Crawford and Mikey Garcia (who are all rumoured to be moving up to 140lbs). Danny Garcia would be a huge pay per view match up but Garcia is also rumoured to be moving up to 147lbs. Whatever happens next in the world of Adrien Broner it will no doubt be exciting, whether you love him or hate him you can't deny that he is entertaining. The young fighter announced himself as a professional party animal at the end of this year offering his services to plan the wildest parties for anyone with the highest bid. The trash talk, eccentric ring walks, huge entourages, rap tours and partying are all examples of an individual living the dream experiencing what fame has to offer and why not? he is a professional in one of the hardest sports in the world so I believe you should be able to enjoy your moment in the sun. In terms of boxing though I am convinced Broner will make 2015 his year as he seems to have found his feet at 140lbs, hopefully we will witness more of his explosive power and a world title around the waist before maybe in a few years moving back up to 147lbs to re-establish himself as the main man at welterweight.
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