Adrien Broner has his belt, but just where is he going to end up in his boxing career?
He is 23, he owns the WBA welterweight title and he is clearly a skilled boxer who can move around the ring with speed and throw hard punches.
Has the public completely bought into his act and his persona? Not at all, but that's not necessarily a problem either. Boxing needs its stars to have personalities, and Broner definitely has his own style.
It's not one that boxing fans particularly like, but if you can develop a persona as a bad guy, you definitely have a place in the sport.
There's nothing like a good vs. evil matchup, and Broner is rapidly showing he can fill the bill as the bad guy. In his recent victory over Paulie Malignaggi, Broner (27-0, 22 KOs) was trash-talking up a storm before, during and after their June fight.
Broner beat Malignaggi in a split decision. While Malignaggi thought the decision was unfair, many of the boxing press sitting ringside thought the fight was clearly won by Broner.
Broner relented in his trash talking for a bit when he came to the microphone for his post-fight press conference, calling Malignaggi a world-class fighter and saying that he respected him.
But that was just a momentary lapse, because he quickly went back into the garbage-talking mode before he finished his remarks.
"I came into town, and I got his belt and his girl," Broner said to the media (through ESPN's Dan Rafael).
But while he may have the personality to impact the public, the jury is still out on his talent and skill level. In the Malignaggi fight, it was clear that he had a lot more going for him than his 32-year-old rival. However, it seemed that Broner was following a pattern of fighting hard for 30 or 40 seconds every round and then coasting the rest of the time.
No matter how you can fulfill a role in the ring with your personality, you can't be a dominant fighter who gets to the top by giving your all in spurts and measuring your work output each round.
Still, when Broner was firing his punches, he was knocking Malignaggi backwards, and that's an indicator of how much power he has. When Malignaggi was throwing his blows, Broner did not move.
Malignaggi is not a power puncher, and he did not test Broner in that way. However, Broner will be back in the ring in late November, and it could be against hard-punching Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KOs), according to Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook.
Maidana would be a big test for Broner because of his power and his unorthodox style in the ring. If Broner can handle Maidana in a convincing manner, it just could elevate him to a new status.
He is still young enough to grow in the sport and become a leader. While it would be a stretch to say he will become an all-time great, the proper handling of a tough guy like Maidana would indicate big things are at hand for Broner.
Perhaps he could jump as high as No. 5 in the pound-for-pound rankings. But that won't happen until he fights consistently for all three minutes in the round, something he did not do against the overmatched Malignaggi.
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