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AWAKENING A SLEEPING BRONER?

By Paul Magno | June 21, 2017
AWAKENING A SLEEPING BRONER?

There's not one single man or woman performing at (or near) the highest levels of his/her profession who isn't heavy on ego and self-belief. It comes with the package- ego is one of the things that pushes a human being into action.

In the case of Adrien Broner, that ego may have bubbled over a long time ago, giving the Cincinnati native an inflated sense of who he is and a distorted view of what, exactly, he must do to stay at the top of the boxing business.

For the last four years or so, we've seen an Adrien Broner bloated with self-importance sleepwalk his way through a succession of paydays, delivering on almost none of the in-ring dynamite that previous made his out-of-ring schmuckery excusable.

But, deep in the heart of Broner, there IS a proud, professional warrior. For all the silliness he's pushed out there in the public forum, Broner is still the guy who raged through the ranks to become one of the sport's best prospects. Broner is the guy who fought back valiantly in a losing effort to Marcos Maidana in 2013 (although he rarely gets any credit for this brave, gritty performance). He's also the guy who dropped Shawn Porter in the final round of their 2015 bout, when it would've been easy to just throw in the towel and ride out the final three minutes of a losing effort.

So, for all the well-earned shots Broner takes at the hands of fans and media, there is still some professional pride left in the man. And the upcoming July 29 bout with Mikey Garcia may be a case of awakening the sleeping giant.

As soon as the junior welterweight clash was announced, the consensus belief seemed to be that the super serious and impeccably-skilled Garcia, moving up one full weight class to meet this challenge, would roll right over Broner. The betting odds reflected that collective opinion.

"I heard that like they got Mikey like 5-to-1," Broner said at the recent press conference, held to hype the fight. "You know what I'm saying? I just feel like you got some serious bettors out there, looking at that like, '5-to-1?' They don't give me no chance. But y'all can sit up and say McGregor gonna beat Floyd. Man, this boxing game crazy, man!

"But um, I just hope nobody put they house on this fight against me because if you do that, then you'll be living like Will Smith in 'Hancock' after the fight, man."

Make no mistake about it, five-to-one odds for this bout ARE a slap in the face to Broner who, as he pointed out at that same press conference, IS technically undefeated below the 147 lb. limit. Considering that Garcia is coming up in weight and not too far removed from a long layoff from the ring, the odds are even more of an insult.

But it's not hard to understand why the casinos have set these odds. Garcia is seen as the consummate pro and a no-nonsense, stone cold executor in the ring and Broner, well, is seen as just the exact opposite. Any fair assessment of both fighters' recent ring histories can't help but lead one to pick a young prince looking to assume the throne over a court jester.

Broner's raw abilities, however, suggest that the jester can still fight when (and if) he puts his mind to it. And the idea that so many boxing people are taking for granted that Garcia will blow right past Broner, is perhaps the kind of wake-up call the 27-year-old fighter needs to get his mind back in the game.

Early reports from training camp say that Broner is, indeed, in a good place, mentally, and in good condition, physically. It's also encouraging to see that, so far, he's not dealing in distractions prior to this bout, as opposed to the nonsense that seemed to overflow during the lead-in to other bouts.

Maybe wounded pride will make a better man out of Adrien Broner. After all, it's one thing to be laughed WITH and quite another to be laughed AT.

In a lot of ways, Broner HAS turned himself into a joke over the last few years. But on July 29, against Mikey Garcia, he has a chance to stop the laughter, turn back the clock, and regain a level of legitimacy as a fighter that he hasn't had in quite some time.

Broner's professional ego is hurting, now let's see what he does about it.

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