By Oscar Pick THE wasted potential of Adrien Broner, a fighter once destined for greatness, will dominate discussions within boxing circles when he faces Blair Cobbs this Friday. This will be Broner’s first outing in nearly a year, headlining a Don King-promoted pay-per-view show at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Florida. While it seems harsh to critique the three-weight world champion’s career, ‘The Problem’ – a name that more accurately reflects his antics outside of the ring – has, in many ways, brought it upon himself.
This last-ditch effort to regain the attention of fans, to prolong the dwindling years he has left in the sport and, more importantly, to maximise his earning potential is, from a certain perspective, admirable. However, with the talented slickster now entering his mid-30s, one can’t help but suspect that this resurgence has come far too late. Jimmy Cannon once labelled boxing the red light district of professional sports and, in this context, it only seems right to quote the legendary writer.
Broner’s situation – largely self-inflicted by a tendency to balloon up in weight between fights – is specific to him. But the story of a fighter failing to reach their full potential is one that has been told a thousand times over. To piggyback on Cannon’s words, it is the job of a fighter to navigate the wild west that is boxing, a world where many will survive but only few will conquer.
In other words, there are varying reasons why t.