Max Kellerman summed it all up in his pre-fight intro when he said Adrien Broner, at best, could break even; winning, no matter how well he did it, could only keep critics from ripping him more with his performance. I won't go into it too long, as I feel the boxing world will accurately rip into Broner, not only because he failed to make weight, but also because of his pre-fight antics leading up to the failed weigh-in. Broner boasted openly about eating steak and potatoes, not suffering at all to make weight, eating as he pleased, and being found in Twitter pics with Twinkies. There also was a sense that Escobedo was cheated throughout this situation, as the boxing world was looking for him to unfairly keep the bout, despite Broner missing the original and the morning of weigh-in marks. Escobedo, wisely, negotiated himself into twice the money he was offered, and much more that has not been disclosed. After putting up a spirited, but feeble effort, he was blown away in five by the faster, stronger Broner. In Escobedo's post-fight remarks, the weight of what he had endured both physically and emotionally got to him, and he tearfully stated that he worked hard for the fight and felt that he at least wanted a fair shot.
It was in that final phrase that I must disagree with Escobedo's view on the proceedings. First and foremost, a few pounds is not a small deal, but a big deal to those who cut weight. My most successful fighter, Johny Hendricks, does not see the last few pounds as easy as the first few. It is brutal on the body and people can forget the wages it takes from the fighter. In that regards, a few pounds is a big deal. Yet I feel that some people are viewing this like they view the second Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo fight, where one guy didn't make it and an otherwise entertaining and competitive fight was made insignificant by the advantage of Castillo, who missed weight and won the fight easy, impressing none by doing so. I do not see that at all. In my opinion, the fight went clearly as I expected it to. The more skilled guy won the fight and would have won the fight just as easy with the three pounds. Escobedo is a tough guy, but nothing in his skill set suggested that he had the ability to beat Broner, or that the weight on Broner kept him from doing it. Adrien Broner is better than Vicente Escobedo, and that is why he won.
Now that I have established the bad of this weekend, I will now address the overwhelming good. Adrien Broner is being moved the right way. I am worn thin on casino shows. I won't lie and say that I haven't benefited from them, as fighters like Fernando Guerrero, Shawn Porter, and Alfredo Angulo were brought to Minnesota due to such casino shows. However, the best boxing event I went to when I stayed in Minnesota was a battle between The Contender's Anthony Bonsante and middleweight journeymen Matt Vanda. It was of little relevance outside of Minnesota, but the state was split and the event was filled with local fight fans who came to watch two B sides in the boxing world go at it. The Target Center crowd would have filled any middle of nowhere casino 10 times over, and the thick atmosphere made it a great event. I live in Texas now, so I get far more boxing events with higher level athletes. One of those athletes is Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr, who just brought out a great crowd to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. He came to the ring in a limo truck and then put on a great performance. Like Bonsante/Vanda, Chavez Jr. is promoted, and his product targeted, to perform for a specific audience in a specific part of the world, where his brand can be supported and grown. And yes, it's the same stomping grounds his father laid before him. I know it will do well in Vegas, but Chavez/Martinez would have done even better at Cowboys Stadium or the Sun Bowl again. For me to see that there have been scheduled events with Adrien Broner in Cincinnati, with Devon Alexander in St. Louis, with the Peterson brothers in DC, with Bam Bam Rios in LA, I feel the sport is moving in the right direction, bringing it back to the fans and, more importantly, back to the kids, who see live sporting events as significant memories in their lives, of which they desire to share with their own children. That is how the sport is both grown and nurtured into the next generation of both fans and fighters.
Broner putting on a show for his hometown crowd will only encourage more people to come out and watch him perform the next time around. It will be a must-see event in the community if he fights there at least twice a year, building buzz on each performance. For comedy fans who are familiar with Katt Williams, he did a show in the same hometown of Cincinnati and had a great crowd. People want to support the ones who went out into the world and made it, then returned to perform for the crowd who saw them first. Broner, brash, narcissistic, exciting, powerful, flashy, a Mayweather defense, a Trinidad kill switch, and probably talks trash in his sleep, has all the tools to be more than a guy who gets his hand raised, yet one must have an audience to perform their feats of exceptional skill over rival boxing products. Golden Boy investing in Broner's home base is the kind of step we need for the boxing game. Sure, a casual gambler popping into a boxing event is fine, but in comparison to people who are invested in the combatants, it is no challenge.
This is something that must be invested in, which of course may result in some failures. Andre Berto stopped Carlos Quintana in his home state of Florida in an event where it is rumored the number of tickets given out matched the ones sold. Yet he put on a damn good performance, and if they continued to make him an attraction in the city, rather than presenting him as an attraction coming to the city, they could have had something. Andre Ward has fought only seven times out of the state of California and a good mass of those fights in central to northern California. It only made sense that he would be a draw after such location-driven product development. Chad Dawson, Ward's opponent September 8th, started off his career developing his name and brand in his home state of Connecticut, but he has only fought there twice in the last 10 fights, making him a Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion without a significant fan base. Where would you want to have the fight between these two?
The last enemy to fighters developing a brand is the fighters themselves. They must not be blinded by the lights of Las Vegas and think that they deserve nothing less than to perform in one of these great venues, as only the elite fight in Vegas. The problem is Vegas, unlike the cities I mentioned above, are driven by developed stars. They don't develop them. What major fighter do you know who was born in Vegas...go on, take you time...Floyd, Pac, and Oscar, developed outside of Vegas, but were brought to the elite by performances in it and performances against each other. Yet Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright, and Shane Mosely never developed a home base, committing to Vegas to their detriment at times, and remaining high level B sides their entire careers. I am not ashamed, nor do I feel it is an insult to say, but those three men had damn good careers, but were never the main attraction in elite fights, Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Calzaghe being the closest fight to accomplishing it. Yet I can't help but wonder what if Bernard would've returned to Philly to perform after the Oscar win. He drew a solid card for Enrique Ornelas late in his career. They could have been greater if he invested in the Philly fans instead of visited. I think fans would have come to see him perform well into his long career. This is the mistake that the next generation of fighters can not make, and the management powers that be must attempt to overcome. Broner, who has fought in Cincinnati 8 times in his last 13, is doing it the right way. His pre-fight execution was off, but he is on the right track.
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