Text by Edward Chaykovsky, Interview by Chris Robinson
HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant felt a lot of people were happy when Adrien Broner (27-1, 22KOs) suffered his first career defeat at the hands of Marcos Maidana last Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Broner was dropped twice, and hurt several times, on his way to losing his WBA welterweight title by way of a clear twelve round unanimous decision.
"He sells himself as an entertainer and he made a lot of people happy by losing and getting beat up. There were high expectations [of Broner], some that were fueled by his own self belief, some of which were fueled by boxing - hoping that he was a future star. It was a letdown and a lesson and left a lot of questions. Was he moved up from 130 to 140 too fast? Did his own people buy into the hype and rush him? Or is he complicit in the sense that he got a little bit complacent, that he wasn't at peak condition and couldn't make those lower weights anymore," Merchant said.
Merchant saw some good qualities in Broner, that he didn't give up and keep going, but he also saw some flaws. He wonders if Broner can be rebuilt into the force that he once was.
"I think he showed some good qualities, he didn't give up. He came back late in the fight and that's an encouraging sign - but he took a beating and showed that he's vulnerable. I will be curious to see how they try to rebuild that creation. Maybe he was too strong at the lighter divisions against what we saw as mediocre opposition or can he come back as a true 140 or 147-pounder," Merchant said.
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