If he dedicated himself to boxing 100% from the beginning and stopped trying to impress Mayweather. Partying, drinking and all the buffoonery that comes with this lifestyle certainly hindered him, as it would anyone. How good could he have been?
There`s been many boxers that could have been great if they cut out buffoonery, partying and drinking, Khan another fighter who threw his career away by not being focused and always making mistakes, Broner didn`t have anymore talent than Khan.
I don´t think it's his lack of dedication. He always trains his ass off and is in amazing shape. It's his mentality. He seems to be going through the motions. Broner said had he trained for Paulie as seriously as he did for Maidana, then he would have taken Paulie out. Well Maidana then kicked his ass and Broner blamed it on his preparation. Broner never evolved as a fighter and he seems to be now regressing. He is one of the most physically gifted fighters out there, and I don't want to say that he is one dimensional, but he sort of it. He has some solid tricks up his sleeve and excels at them due to his athletic ability. A better version of Amir Imam, who has a flashy style, athletic ability but no idea as to wtf he is actually doing.
Probably not as high as is generally credited to him: above average but not quite elite, a genuine talent nonetheless.
Broner is a 135' lber, he had no business going up to WW or even competing at JWW. His advantages dissipated as he went higher. Had he stayed at LW, I think he'd be an animal, even with all of his brain deficiencies and shenanigans. He'd be a potential elite, (please notice I only said potential) at LW. Obviously Mikey and Loma would son him, I don't see anyone else at the weight that dominates him though. DISCLAIMER: I am speaking from the position of what I believe had he made a full career campaign at LW. *Prepares for slander and knuckles up*
Broner isn't regressing. He had a lot of success against Vargas and Mikey in the late rounds. I saw Mikey get hurt to the body and his nose was bloodied. Vargas would probably have been stopped if Broner started 2-3 rounds earlier.
Overrated as a talent. He could impose himself based on size at the lower weights, but as he went up he needed to show more talent and skills. He's a world class fighter, just not elite.
Much lower than he seems to get credit for!! The dude sucks. Plain and simple. The phrases "hype job" and "exposed" gets thrown around like there's no tomorrow! n this guy is STILL getting "what if" threads!!! Broner is the very definition of a hype job and he has been definitively exposed. Drop the what if crap already.
Yeah, he's below Loma and Crawford, but he could have been top 5-8 P4P possibly. It's difficult to say. Maybe he knew he reached his peak and self imploded. It would be a shame if he knew he wasn't at his best and never tried to achieve more for himself.
About as high as Floyd's basement and within grabbing distance of the ceilings of Fernando Quintero and Daniel Ponce De Leon.
Boxing fans get too impressed by things like athletic ability, speed and power. Sometimes there are dude that just look better shadowboxing than they do fighting real fights. Berto, Broner are great examples. EVERY single time they stepped up they couldn't handle it. Broner is tough, can take a good punch and has a lot of athletic ability and speed...but he isn't a great fighter. Bernard Hopkins wasn't athletic, didn't have speed and not much power but the guy knew how to rule a boxing ring. Some fighters are just exceptional freaks... Mayweather, Mosley, Roy Jones, etc and everyone loses their mind when they see someone who has those traits (Speed and power are so ridiculously overrated IMO. GREAT to have, but it doesn't mean you can fight) but don't realize that those guys also knew how to fight, make adjustments or simply impose their will.
