Adrien "The Problem" Broner has drawn many comparisons inside and outside of the boxing ring to the sport's current kingpin Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Many of these comparisons have been favorable—his speed and fighting style—while some have been less flattering—his brashness often bordering on disrespect of his opponents.
With his big win over Gavin Rees this past weekend in Atlantic City, the speculation now turns to where he goes from here and how he best cashes in on his rising popularity.
One ludicrous idea that has recently been floated is seeking out an immediate fight with the man he hopes to one day replace at the top of the sport—the man they call "Money."
Is this a fight that could make sense down the road?
Absolutely.
But it's not close to ripe yet and it would be a terrible idea for both Broner and Mayweather for a variety of reasons.
Fundamental among them is the fact that as good as Broner has shown to be recently, he is still something of a work in progress.
He has all the tools and all the marketing ability to one day become a huge money-making star in the sport but he isn't quite there yet.
In his last fight he was ultimately able to overwhelm Rees with his speed and combination punching. But before he really got going, he was tagged with several decent shots in the first two rounds.
Luckily for Broner, the hard-charging Welshman wasn't a power puncher or he could've found himself in some serious trouble.
There are still some holes in his game, some would say overconfidence could be one, that will need to be corrected before this type of fight is even considered.
Putting it simply—at this stage Mayweather would take him to the woodshed.
While that's the biggest problem, there are others.
Broner currently competes at lightweight, where he holds the WBC title, and while he has discussed a possible move to 140 pounds, he'll need to go up to at least welterweight to pursue Mayweather.
With Mayweather already scheduled to face Robert Guerrero on May 4th, and speculation rampant that a jump to 154 pounds is next, he's done competing below welterweight.
The last time he did was eight years ago.
Broner could choose to unify lightweight titles, the winner of Miguel Vazquez and Ricky Burns could be next, or jump to a much deeper and more challenging junior welterweight division.
The competition there would be a better gauge of his talent and ability to handle bigger and better fighters.
But even if we put the experience and weight issues aside, there is zero chance Golden Boy Promotions, who handles Broner and has a partnership with Mayweather, would ever consider this bout right now.
Mayweather has his six-fight deal with Showtime that will likely pay him quite handsomely and Broner is still a rising star with huge upside.
If there's one thing Golden Boy succeeds at, it's developing their potential cash cows slowly and responsibly.
Saul Alvarez anyone?
To think that they'd even consider putting Broner in there with Mayweather now is ludicrous.
The next step for "The Problem" is much more simple. Just keep doing your thing, improve your skills, correct your flaws and let the pieces fall into place.
No need at this early stage to bite off more than you can chew.
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