Saturday nights Maidana/Broner fight sure wasn’t a shocker to most, many believed that Maidana would give Broner a dose of humility. Many claimed that Broner was a Mayweather ‘wannabe’. Paulie Malignaggi’s crying of fowl after losing a close decision to Broner last June turned out to be closer to reality than previously thought. As a Broner fan I expected Broner to BEAT Maidana, but Saturday night Maidana was not to be denied!
Reading (and believing) too many of your own press-clippings is a BAD sign, and all of the indicators pointed in that direction for Broner. Broner said on an earlier occasion when asked about fighting his mentor Mayweather, that he didn’t want to give Floyd his first loss. Broner also said he was taking over boxing after Mayweather’s exit. On another occasion Broner put himself in 3rd place behind Andre Ward and Mayweather on the P4P list. All of the antics and bad press that Broner engaged in to make himself into a bigger star/bigger villain was for nought, cause at the end of the day he didn’t outperform the hype…he didn’t win the fight.
Today all of his bluster and talk is fantasy, Broner having lost in dominant fashion finds himself at the end of the line working his way back up to the front. At the bottom of the totem pole working his way back up to the top! In fact the beating that Broner took this past Saturday night was eerily similar to the beating Glenn Tapia took just one week earlier. Broner was concussed throughout that fight and ended up leaving before the post-fight interview so he could be examined by a doctor in his dressing room.
Making a long story short, Broner was more style than substance, more bark than bite, and definitely not on Mayweather’s level, or Marquez’, or Pacquiao’s, or Ward’s…you get the point. As for Mayweather’s he’s expressed his support for his little brother, it’s easy to kick a man when he’s down, and Floyd isn’t doing that. Many others ARE, as witnessed when many fans in the stands threw garbage on Broner during his ring exit, just adding insult to injury.
Totally unprepared for the BIG stage Broner failed in several areas, his PREPARATION was MARGINAL at best, something Mayweather would never make the mistake of doing. Broner was also very dismissive of Maidana another trait FOREIGN to Mayweather when preparing for a fight. Mayweather leaves no stone unturned during his fight camps, leaves nothing to chance and NEVER underestimates his opponents. Also in Mayweather’s favor is the level of competition he faced while climbing the ladder to boxing’s highest level. Broner’s competition pales in comparison.
So now with this ‘dose of humility’ in hand what does Broner do with it? Will it be a new lease on his boxing life so-to speak or will he fail to learn his lesson and continue on down the road to infamy?