Known for his controversial stance on several different topics, rapper Glasses Malone has never been one to bite his tongue no matter the subject. Being an avid boxing fan, Malone will be sharing some of his unpopular and sometimes controversial opinions about the sport with our readers. They may not be popular, but he guarantees to back them with facts!
GLASSES MALONE ON ADRIEN BRONER BEING A FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAMER:
There has only been 15 other 4-divison world champions in the history of boxing, so including Broner, there are only 16 fighters who won world titles in 4 weight classes. It took Miguel Cotto until he was 33-34 years old. It took Floyd Mayweather until he was 28 years old to win his 4th divisional title. It took Oscar De La Hoya until he was 28 years old to win his 4th divisional title. Adrien Broner did it by the age 23. That’s incredible. I think Terence "Bud" Crawford is one of the better stars in boxing, but Crawford is only 2-divisions in right now and we're still waiting to figure out if he can get his third. We all assume he can, but imagine how hard it’s going to be to get his 4th. He's gotta go up and deal with a Charlo or Lara; he's gotta go up and deal with some shit to get a 4th. Broner did it at 23. Nobody has ever won a 4th division at 23 years old; not even Oscar, who I think is the fastest guy to make it to four.
There will be people that will say, "Well, he had the easiest path to his 4 world titles." There is no such thing. It’s impossible to say that. That’s why only 15 other fighters in the history of boxing have ever done it. There is no fast path. You have to be truly gifted. It’s like when people say, "Well, Michael Jordan didn’t have to play this person or that person for his titles." That’s not important. To win four trophies in any sport, I don’t care who you are, it’s almost impossible, which is why we’re only talking about 16 fighters in the history of the sport who have ever done it. There were other people fighting at the same time that Adrien Broner was fighting who didn’t do it. I think when people say that, they’re just being ridiculous. The fourth division is different. Paulie Malignaggi is probably a Hall of Famer when it’s all said and done; maybe. Broner went through that guy to win his title on his fourth one. I get Paulie is not the hardest puncher, but he is a brilliant boxer. To fight a fighter like Paulie Malignaggi, with all of that experience, in his fourth division already; sure, whatever you want to say.
"Oh, it’s easy," but only 15 other guys in the history of the sport, in a sport with thousands of athletes, have done it. Only a handful have won a major title in 4 different divisions. There is no easy way to do it. Look at the way they regard "Chocolatito," Roman Gonzalez. He won a 4th division. He won it after Adrien Broner. Let’s go down the list of fighters who have won 4 world titles in 4 weight classes. You have: Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, Erik Morales, Miguel Cotto, Tommy Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roman Gonzalez, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Duran, Jorge Arce, Leo Gamez, Roy Jones Jr., Pernell Whitaker and Adrien Broner. And none of those guys not named Adrien Broner accomplished that at 23 years of age. No one cares about the 4 guys Nonito Donaire beat for his world titles, so why do we care about who Broner beat? It doesn’t matter.
Having a gift and having talent are two different things. Let’s split it into two separate compartments. Gift is something that you were born with and skill is something that you work hard on and you learn through repetition. An incredible amount of repetition can develop a skill. Adrien Broner is probably the most gifted fighter we have seen since Roy Jones; with gifts, things you were born with. Everything that Adrien Broner does is something that he was born with. I think his size, at 5'8", 70-inch wing span, I think 147 is probably the limit. Not to mention he’s coming on the other side of his career. Adrien Broner is still young, he’s like 27 years old, but I think he’s fought so many fights, he’s spaced out his career, so I don’t think it’s an age thing anymore. I think you’re talking about boxing years now. To go up to 154 and do something incredible would be really tough at his size. It’s like any other great fighter, it’s rough when you start being that undersized. Broner is just a tremendously gifted athlete. He has very fast hands, a good boxing brain, not a great one, but a good boxing brain, and just unbelievable reflexes.
I just think we give him a hard time because of his out-of-the-ring antics. He’s a wild boy, but you gotta remember, he’s young. It’s like disrespecting Tupac because Tupac was getting into all of the bullshit he was getting into; Tupac was 23. Broner is a popular, black, successful entertainer/athlete and we are talking about this when he was a 22/23-year-old kid. We are not talking about a developed talent. Look what this guy has done already. He lost to Marcos Maidana. I don’t believe in my heart any version of Broner, whether he was disciplined or undisciplined, could beat Marcos Maidana at that fourth division. That’s a lot to expect from anyone who is 24 years old. You can say the same thing for Shawn Porter, who has fought as a pro at 154 pounds. He lost to really big guys. I always say this, Adrien Broner has never lost a fight that I didn’t think he should lose. Maidana gave Floyd all he could take in the first fight and Porter gave Keith Thurman all he could take in their fight. Floyd just so happens to be the perfect combination of gift and skills versus Broner, who is just extremely gifted. If you really think about it, for Broner to lose to Maidana is really not that big a deal. So, let most people tell it, Maidana was Floyd’s second hardest fight in his career and Broner tasted his power and got up and fought the dog shit out of him. He jumped in with the hardest puncher, maybe the second hardest puncher in the division at the time, 4 divisions up at 23 years old and fought his ass off.
Some people are just really hard on him. We are looking at a future Hall of Famer if people’s emotions don’t get in the way of what this dude represents. As far as if he’s achieved maximum success, I just don’t know if a 5th division is possible given his size. It would have to be the perfect fight. My opinion is Broner is very much an offensive fighter. We all scream, “Ah, he needs to throw more combinations.” That’s not every fighter. Every fighter is not the perfect combination of things. Some fighters are just who they are. Broner is a born fighter. Everything that you see Broner do, no disrespect to Mike Stafford and those guys, but he was born with that. That’s who he is. I think a guy like Freddie Roach would improve his offense because he’s an offensive fighter, like Pacquiao to a degree. His offense is his defense. He’s not the easiest person to hit, but he’s not Floyd Mayweather.
I think when we look back at it, we look at Floyd and we look at Broner and we see comparisons. We see attitude comparisons, we see accurate punching comparisons, and automatically we put him next to probably the greatest fighter of all time and think he could have done things that Floyd has done. No, that’s just not who he is. He is Adrien Broner, the youngest person to ever win 4 titles in 4 divisions in the history of the sport by 2+ years. When it’s all said and done, if I had a vote, Adrien Broner would be a first ballot Hall of Famer right now! Adrien Broner is already a first ballot Hall of Famer! Look at that list of guys up top and tell me how many of those guys are first ballot Hall of Famers. That should answer your question of is Broner a first ballot Hall of Famer. This is not a simple achievement. How do you keep somebody out that has done what only 15 other fighters in the history of the sport have done?
[ Follow Glasses Malone on Twitter @gmalone ]