As Adrien "The Problem" Broner (26-0, 22 KO) finalizes his preparation for his fight against Paulie "The Magic Man" Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO) Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the undefeated champion must not let the out-of-ring battle with his opponent overshadow his performance in the ring.
Broner and Malignaggi have engaged in a fierce war of words leading into this fight. While that is typical of high-profile bouts in boxing, there are many experts and traditionalists in the sport who feel that The Problem has crossed a few lines with his pre-fight banter this time.
Intentional or not, Broner has angered The Magic Man, who told Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News about how the comments have affected him:
I didn't appreciate my personal life being brought out publicly like that. You can keep it sporty and talk trash. You can tell me you're going to put me in the hospital. You can tell me all kinds of stuff and after the fight it's like, 'Alright, whatever, man.' But don't bring my personal life into it, dude. That's what really ticked me off in the end.
Boxing legend Floyd "Money" Mayweather has made a living off getting inside the head of his competition. While many fans are quick to make the comparison between Money and Broner, the younger fighter must back up his words with domination in the ring to even be in the same conversation.
What makes Mayweather such a great fighter is that he goes out after all of his trash talking and wins his fights without question. While his latest bouts may have gone to the judges’ scorecards, there is no doubt who won each of those fights.
Not only must Broner beat Malignaggi on Saturday night, but he also must beat him convincingly enough to warrant the extensive trash he talked in the build to this fight. The Problem flat-out shouldn’t be talking this much trash if he can’t dominate a journeyman like The Magic Man.
If Broner walks into the center of the ring and thoroughly handles Malignaggi with his overwhelming power and ends the fight early, all of the hype that the pre-fight chatter caused will have been worth it and the 23-year-old fighter will build his aura.
If Malignaggi keeps this fight interesting and he takes Broner to a close decision, the undefeated fighter will look foolish.
The Problem must handle his business in the ring, and then he can talk all the trash he wants.
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