WHERE NEXT FOR AB? 

Now the dust has settled on a humbling and soul-destroying defeat for Adrien Broner against hard-hitting Argentinian Marcos “chino” Maidana.

What next for the now former champion? Word is out that he has asked for an immediate rematch, but judging by the fight, will that be even worth it? This was only his second fight at this weight and if you saw the first, six months ago against Paulie Malignaggi, the signs were already there.

I think despite his cocky bravado that undoubtedly rubs people up the wrong way, I do think Broner has boxing skill and talent to do big things in the sport. The issue is, as everyone has stated after this defeat, how dedicated is he to his craft?

Broner raps, performs on tour, goes out partying; he drinks and has put on a lot of weight in between training camps.

If you ask anyone in the sport, living that kind of lifestyle, he was never going to stay unbeaten for long.

Already a three weight champion, you have got to give him massive credit to be prepared to jump up two weight classes to fight a hard-hitting, big punching pressure fighter in Maidana. Just in February, he fought at lightweight and that was only his second fight at the weight.

Even if most thought it was just his over confidence and cocky attitude that made him take that fight, he still had to have massive guts to do it.

What really makes me laugh and irritates me is, just because Broner is a young black champion, who trash talks constantly. Is cocky, brash and flashy; he was inevitably compared to Floyd Mayweather inside the ring as well as outside the ring.

Some fools have gone as far as to say, Maidana would do the same to Mayweather if they fought.

This not only proves how much Floyd is hated and how badly people want to see him lose so he can be the butt of their jokes. It also shows us how little people know about boxing.

Broner is very close with Floyd and constantly calls him his big brother. Yes they both have similarities in the way they are cocky, flashy and like to trash talk their opponents, but that’s where the similarities end.

Floyd has dedicated himself to boxing his entire life and coming up had no outside or side ventures until he was a real big box office draw.

Broner and Floyd’s footwork is completely different. Broner fights flat-footed, he likes to plant his feet and throw power shots, whereas Floyd is light-footed, always on his toes and relies on his impeccable reflexes and accurate shots.

Also Floyd’s defence is superb and he has grown up with and perfected the shoulder role technique, that looks considerably easier to do than it actually is, as Broner demonstrated.

It’s certainly not something you can watch or study for a time and mimic.

To add to this, Floyd created this trash talking persona when he left Bob Arum’s stable and needed to drum up publicity and attention to get big fights. If you notice, Floyd don’t really talk as much trash as he did before and usually reserves it for a 247 or all access program to promote and provide entertainment.

Broner is trying to follow that blueprint. At the end of the day, I don’t really blame him, if you’re gonna follow a blueprint why not the best pound for pound boxer of our era?

So where can AB go from here? Well, for me this defeat could be a blessing in disguise, which could allow him to reinvent himself to capture the hearts of the public.

As unlikely as it sounds, his “niche” could be the young boxer who jumps up in weights to gamely trash talk and fight bigger opponents.

Now he may lose a few, but the respect he will regain from the public for attempting these impossible feat’s could be invaluable.

The problem is (no pun intended) I’m not sure someone with the ego of Broner will go for this. More over, I’m not sure he has the heart to go that route either. But after such a huge pride destroying defeat, aside from a devastating rematch victory. He doesn’t have many avenue’s to go down.

As I stated previously, I still think he has the skill and boxing talent to do big things in the sport, but after this defeat, his ego, attitude and cocky ways has not allowed him much room to manoeuvre with the boxing fraternity.

Imagine if he became known as the fighter who bravely and regularly jumped up in weights to challenge champions. How exciting and interesting would that be for the public and the sport?

You never know, it could make him do a complete 360 with the public and dare I say, be loved, revered and respected…..Well, who knows, stranger things has happened.