IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“Broner may be too lost in the swirl of his own hype and hype-men to ever learn from, or even acknowledge, his shortcomings. But Broner is unlikely to forget whatever he gleaned from the twelve painful rounds he shared with Maidana. Brought in yet again as a supporting player for another network star, Maidana, like he did to Victor Ortiz in 2009, threw the script in the garbage. Largely dismissive of Maidana in the build up to Saturday night, Broner, Cincinnati, Ohio, assured all that the plodding slugger was not on his level. The stoic Maidana promised only to do his part and to hit his opponent very hard. Which is what he did, for twelve merciless rounds.”

Read A Lesson In Violence: Marcos Maidana W12 Adrien Broner on the Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“Broner is making his second foray into the welterweight division, having outpointed Paulie Malignaggi in June. To many—including judge Tom Miller, who scored the fight for Malignaggi—Broner struggled in his first performance at 147 pounds. But while Broner never even sniffed danger against Malignaggi—the feather-fisted Brooklynite did little more than dust Broner for prints—he also presented less of it than anticipated. Perhaps Broner overlooked Malignaggi, a fighter long enough in the tooth to expose the root; perhaps the physical advantages Broner used to undo smaller men were mitigated by moving up two divisions. Whatever the reason for the twelve anticlimactic rounds that were Broner-Malignaggi, it was almost certainly not the arrival Showtime and Golden Boy Promotions hoped for. And that makes the selection of Maidana as an opponent interesting. Is Maidana a step up, a step back, or a lateral move? And what does the answer to this question say about Broner’s prospects?”

Read NO RESERVATIONS: Adrien Broner-Marcos Maidana Preview on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

To the relief of many, a tasteless and offensive promotion came to an end last night when Paulie Malignaggi and Adrien Broner met at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Broner, having rifled through the skeletons of Malignaggi’s closet, found a bag of bones willing to humiliate herself for fifteen seconds of fame and two minutes of hate, and tried to drum up interest by emasculating Malignaggi via unfavorable sexual reviews of “The Magic Man.” Malignaggi, ever the sanctimonious windbag, played right along, of course, helping turn last night’s “grudge match” into the final act in a vicariously embarrassing drama. Broner won a split decision over Malignaggi in a fight that—rather fittingly—offered little by way of entertainment, but managed to pose a few questions about how Broner might fair against the best fighters at 140 and 147 pounds.

Read The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be: Adrien Broner W12 Paulie Malignaggi on The Cruelest Sport.