BRONER, BRONER ?BIG BONER?!
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 22 Jul 2012
A funny thing happened at the weigh-in yesterday leading to the supposedly ?huge fight? on HBO between ?tweeter boy? Adrian Broner (23-0-0, 19KO) and 2004 Olympian, Vicente Escobedo (26-3-0, 15KO).
The fight is set at a junior lightweight limit of 130 lbs.
Escobedo who apparently still carries his Olympic traits with regards to discipline, made the contracted weight limits with no problems.
Broner who loves to tweet (telling people how good he is) perhaps at the expense of concentrating fully on his fight came in a full 3 and ? pounds over weight.
Whoa!
That?s almost a full division north of the contracted limit!
In paper, in spite of Escobedo riding on a short winning streak, the former Olympian is clearly the underdog.
He is naturally smaller than Broner. But most important, he has yet to face a fighter who punches hard and had speed to boot.
But Broner with his lack of focus (others call it unprofessional) ruined up his chances for greatness by coming in overweight.
The fight almost got called off. Only last minute wheeling and dealing by the powers-that-be allowed the fight to continue.
But it already lost its glitter.
Broner of course could never win the title even with a win. If he wins the fight, the title will be declared vacant. On the flip side, if Escobedo wins the fight, he will be declared the WBO Super featherweight champion.
Broner was also fined a hefty sum of money part of which goes to the Commission and another part to Escobedo.
A few hours before the fight, Max Kellerman asked Broner what made him unable to hit the right weight.
His reply?
I am 22 and growing.
Lame!
Broner never admitted that his lousy diet that included occasional twinkies and milk shakes did not affect his weight. ?Those things don?t get you overweight? he said.
Broner, Broner, what a boner !
So now Broner?s name will be forever mentioned side by side with Joan Guzman whenever the subject of being overweight is brought up.
That is pathetic!
For a fighter who sports a clean record and on the way to the level where huge money is to be made, Broner?s action or rather non-action regarding the contracted weight is a big shame.
Part of the blame should go to his Team. They should be responsible enough to see to it that their fighter comes in ?on weight? come weigh-in time.
In this instance, they failed miserably and they should be ashamed.
Broner should know that he has a defined job after signing the contract to fight.
That includes training adequately in order to give a good performance and also to protect himself from unnecessary injuries. Part of that training includes assuring that come weigh-in day, he should hit the contracted weight. He could be a little less but never over.
But what did Broner do?
Broner shit all over the faces of his promoters, sponsors and his opponent. He totally ignored the rules of boxing and disrespected everybody including himself. He came 3.5 pounds over the contracted weight!
In my book that is totally an idiot move.
Team Escobedo on the other hand did the right thing. They could have forced Broner to lose the extra pounds but they did not. But they reportedly almost pulled out of the fight. That would have left HBO and GBP high and dry.
But after ?negotiations? they accepted to continue on with the fight. Read:- More money, a lot more of course!
No one should fault them for that!
The opportunity presented itself and they grabbed it. After all this is boxing.- dog eats dog isn?t it?
As for Broner, he should thank Escobedo for opting to go on with the fight albeit for more money.
But it would not be a surprise if in the future HBO will be a little more careful in putting Broner in a fight card again particularly if he is the headliner. Certainly, Broner has proven to be a financial risk rather than a gold mine.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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