Boxing is a mental challenge as much as it is a physical one. Professional boxers play a chess game going to battle psychologically as well as tactically. Cus D’ Amato, legendary trainer of Hall of Fame heavyweights - Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson, once said ‘fights are won and lost in the head.’ If this is true, then Adrien Broner (31-2, 23 KOs) is already in a fight (within) as he goes into this title bout tonight at the Washington D.C. Armory.
Yesterday, under the advice of his defense lawyer, Broner agreed to surrender to police authorities Monday, a few days after his televised, sold-out fight in Washington D.C. Since March 22, Broner, a native of Cincinnati, has been wanted for felony charges of assault and aggravated robbery.
Court documents indicate that in January outside a local bowling alley, Broner allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint and then knocked him unconscious after losing a wager over bowling.
In addition yesterday, Broner failed to make the 140 lb weight limit by .4 pounds - thereby losing his WBA (Super) Light Welterweight on a technicality. Adding insult to injury, Broner decided to blow off the time given to come back for a re-weigh. What does this mean? It means that even if Broner wins tonight, Ashley Theophane (39-6-1,11 KOs) can still win the belt since the title is technically vacant due to Broner not making weight. Not exactly the Title fight that boxing fans wanted…
Can this now former WBA Champion rebound from this and show the world that he is still Champion material?
Although refusing to comment directly about the felony charges and the weight issue, Broner himself provided this context after the final press conference:
“Anything is tough when you have a lot of things coming your way,” Broner said. “I have tunnel vision. It’s fight time. I’m locked-in until I get the job done. Right now I have to focus on this fight. I’m keeping my mind in the right state. I’m not just doing this for me. It’s for my family. It’s bigger than just me.”
As still the undefeated Champion of this weight class with 23 knockouts under his career, Broner (age 26) seems to still have the self-confidence, commitment to his craft and support of his friends and family. As the Porter fight showed last year in which he lost by unanimous decision, Broner had yet to show the flexibility as a fighter ready to bring either the power
he is known for or work defense and do the work to win punches into the later rounds. Whether he can still command the respect of boxing fans after this fight and really prove that he put in the work to improve and perform tonight remains to be seen.As still the undefeated Champion of this weight class with 23 knockouts under his career, Broner (age 26) seems to still have the self-confidence, commitment to his craft and support of his friends and family. As the Porter fight showed last year in which he lost by unanimous decision, Broner had yet to show the flexibility as a fighter ready to bring either the power
SPECIAL INSIGHT FROM COACH BRADLEY:
One interesting thing to note here is that Broner is undefeated when he trains on the East Coast. Straight up, training on the East Coast is different. Those of us in the fight game, know this is where the real "Dog Pound" originated. Broner knows this. Mayweather knows this. It also serves Broner very well. Will it be enough for Broner to overcome his understandable mental stress & distraction? We will see tonight.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOUT:
Written by Ron Parungao
MB SPORTS MEDIA Writer & Correspondent
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