With Floyd Mayweather Jr. closer to the end of his career than the beginning, many boxing fans have started to wonder who might be boxing's next mega star. Love him or hate him, and there seems to be no in between, Mayweather is an all time great who brings in viewers willing to pay the pay for view prices at record levels. So who can step into his shoes and become the next charismatic prize fighter to energize boxing fans? My guess for awhile has been junior lightweight champion Adrien Broner, and he might be one step closer after some surprising news Saturday.
Broner's nickname, "The Problem" seemed appropriate after not making weight on Friday. Broner weighed in at 133 1/2 pounds, three pounds over the 130 pound limit but challenger Vicente Escobedo gave him another chance with a Saturday weigh in with a new limit of 140 pounds. Apparently being stripped of his title and heavily fined had no affect on Broner's attitude and he missed weight again this morning according to boxing website 'Bad Left Hook.'
Well, Broner went ahead and blew that weigh in as well, coming in at 143 pounds. This resulted in immediate reporting that the fight was off, but the Broner camp, Golden Boy and (presumably) HBO have been trying to figure out a way to have the fight go ahead all day.
Due to what can only be described as an embarrasing display of being unprofessional, the fight was initially cancelled after Saturday morning's weigh in. However, HBO and the Broner camp are apparently still making an effort to let fight go ahead as scheduled.
Im told that Escobedo has been offered more than double his purse to proceed tonight. Yeah, this fight may still take place #boxing
— Steve Kim (@stevemaxboxing) July 21, 2012
Purely as a fighter, Escobedo is not in Broner's class. Broner has said before that this would be his last fight in this division, so maybe this was a simple episode of being immature by the 22-year-old Cincinnati native. This was a mandatory fight for Broner, not one that would make him the big money or a big name to knock off for his resume, maybe he just blew it off since it was his last fight before making the jump to lightweight. Broner even tweeted out a picture of a twinkie on his Twitter account; another step in becoming boxing's next star. Mayweather missed weight in his bout against Juan Manuel Marquez and has never been shy of controversy. Regardless if the fight is saved, and I don't think it will be, Broner's mistake today will help combine his endless talent with a love or hate relationship with boxing fans that could make him the sports next mega star.