Paulie Malignaggi spoke with FightHype.com about Adrien Broner’s weekend win over John Molina Jr. and gave his thoughts on where Broner stands in the sport of boxing, and what his future may hold.
Malignaggi has been very critical of Broner in the past, but his criticism (and possibly the bad blood between the two) has waned. Paulie still isn’t convinced that Broner will ever be the star most had expected him to be before his loss to Marcos Maidana but he recognizes Broner’s value.
“I don’t think Broner will ever be the top dog in the sport, but he’ll always be entertaining and he’ll always put asses in seats and always generate ratings on television and I think that’s the bottom line when it comes to being on television. Adrien Broner always has the ability to be on television and generate ratings, and that’s what counts.”
Malignaggi then went on,
“I don’t know that he’s gonna be among the best in the pound for pounders, I don’t think he deserved it [in 2013], but he’s still a solid fighter who brings entertainment.”
As a guy that has been in the ring with Broner, Malignaggi brings some perspective to the conversation when it comes to what Broner will have to do as he moves forward in his career.
“He just needs to be more consistent overall; Adrien has the whole package; he’s just a bit inconsistent with it.”
I’m not sure that consistency is all that Broner needs. He also needs to start stepping up the competition and improving. So far throughout Broner’s still young career, we have seen him manhandle overmatched underdogs. The one time he decided to take on a true challenge, he actually took on more than anyone should have expected of him, and he lost.
Besides being more consistent, what Broner needs to start doing is consistently making 140 pounds (he was one pound over this weekend) and taking better care of himself between fights. With a planned June 20th targeted as his next fight date, fighting every three months is a good start. He also needs to move past the pushovers and start building towards the monsters of the division rather than just throwing himself into the fire like he has in the past.
In other words, Adrien Broner needs to start doing what any other 25-year old fighter with a ton of talent needs to do to become great. There are no shortcuts in this sport.
