Broner received a lot of heat for going from 135 straight to 147. Many said he was a coward who ducked the 140 lbers. Looking back on it, was the criticism valid? Broner's last fight at 135 was in February. At the conclusion of that fight, the following 140 lbers had a spring fight already scheduled and wouldn't be available until the fall; Peterson, Judah, Rios, Alvarado, Garcia, Matthysse, and Khan. Let's look at the landscape since Broner's last fight; Rios, and Khan have moved up to WW. Garcia and Matthysse are fighting each other. Alvarado is fighting Provo. Judah and Peterson are both coming off of losses. Can it not be argued that Malignaggi presented a more appealing and meaningful fight than any fight Broner could have taken at 140 at that time? Could it not also be be argued that this proposed fight with Maidana is more enticing than any fight available to Broner at JWW for the fall? Finally, can it not be argued that in 2014, WW will be a much stronger division than JWW? Broner is an immature kid with a self inflated ego who has some growing to do both inside and outside the ring. With that being said, it would seem that he made the right decision by skipping over JWW and going to WW.
Any intelligent and non biased fan knows that practically everyone who was everyone already had fights at 140 when Broner signed the Malignaggi fight.
Broner did what he had to in order to land a big fight and a title. Now, I beg him th stay at 147 and battle MAIDANA:admin :smoke
It was either be inactive and wait around for a fight at 140 and get criticized for that, fight a scrub at 135 and get criticized for that, or move up to 147 and fight a top 10 ranked titlist. I never understood the criticism that Broner got for that. He should have been praised. I am no Broner fan and his 135 title is total BS even in an era where BS titles can be acceptable, but being a champ in 3 divisions at his age is huge. And even if you don't recognize the belts, than recognize him as having been top 10 in 3 divisions at his age; still very very impressive.
Broner deserves criticism for A LOT of things, but he gets unfairly criticized for almost everything he does just from the magnitude of hate he gets. People take their hate for him and give him these ridiculous double standards
What he did was special. He walks around at 148, yet bullied somebody two weight divisions higher than him in his debut at the weight.
Matthysse already has a fight signed, sealed, and delivered for 9/14. Broner will return in November. So he won't be fighting Matthysse next. Maidana is Broner's mando, so he'll have to fight Maidana next if he stays at WW.
Hopefully this is sarcasm with the Mikey Garcia comment as anyone with a half a brain would know that Mikey is too small for Broner.
