Re: Adrien Broner is done as an elite fighter!
As much as I disliked the kid before I'm going to say he still has enough in the tank to win a title. He can be a Zab Judah type, but he has to learn to grow up at a certain point as zab did put the nonsense away and fight for something bigger than himself.
I'll go out on a limb and say Broner still has reflexes, can take a decent shot, and is slick and fast enough to make something happen but he needs direction. Last night his corner was a clusterf*ck with all the voices going around. Stafford, Cunningham, the voices in broner's head... Its what happens in a lot of corners. When a fighter is doing well, no ones says anything... when the fighter gets knocked down, he comes back and has 5 people yelling and trying to talk over each other. Stafford had to take control of that, get rid of Cunningham and be the sole voice and get his fighter focused way before fight night.
Garcia is skilled, but last night was more game plan than anything else. When Roberto Garcia Coached maidana to beat broner he created a blueprint. The cat was out of the bag. If you smother Broners offense and take away his room to punch, he panics and the first thing does is attempt to shell up but hes no clottey or wright. So he bolts and you catch him on the way out. Maidana did it with power, Porter did it with activity and bulk. Last night, they pretty much perfected it, when Garcia did it behind the jab and didn't have to expose as much of himself to get on top of broner. Broner needs to trust in his skills, stop being lazy and use his feet. He has 2 gears right now, shuffle at punch or shell up and run because his stance is too wide. He wants to fight half in and half out... close enough to advance and get a highlight reel knockout, but with one foot out the door to lean back away from punches and get a head start in running for his life. He had options to pivot and spin garcia or tied him up but probably didn't have the energy.
Was broner drained a little? probably. He looked a little dry. The fact that he could come in under under 140, means his body is still responding and he had at least enough dedication in the gym to get out in front the weight issue (but a nutritionist or even a good trainer wouldn't let him come in that much under. He can still be a good reclamation project for the right kind of team. But you have to get him away from the bullsh*t even before camp starts. Were talking Catskills/ Cus D'amato isolation.
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
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