As reports started to surface across Sunday, September 10 and into Monday, September 11 that four-time world champion, Adrien Broner was involved in another altercation in Las Vegas, my mind couldn’t help but wander off to a recent Jay-Z song–slightly remixed.
Damn AB, they’ll never love you You’ll never be enough, let’s just keep it real, AB F–k AB, I mean, you jacked off your own career How can we know if we can trust AB?
Since Adrien Broner’s July 29 unanimous-decision loss to unbeaten WBC world Lightweight champion Mikey Garcia at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, AB has continued to publicly wrestle with the challenge of finding redemption.
Unlike sports like basketball or football, the next game isn’t a night or two later. It’s not the next Thursday night or Sunday afternoon. Broner spent long stretches of the middle rounds of his bout against Garcia like this wasn’t fact.
After the judge’s cards were read, confirming what the 12,084 fans in attendance already knew, Broner shared several strong statements with Showtime’s Jim Gray during the post-fight interview.
While still dealing with the immediate frustration of being handed his third professional loss, an incensed Broner concluded his remarks to Gray with, “At the end of the day I’m still a four-time world champion at four different weight classes and I’ll still be in the history books.”
Die AB, this ain’t back in the days You don’t need an alibi, AB Cry AB, we know the pain is real But you can’t heal what you never reveal What’s up, AB? You know you owe the truth To all the youth that fell in love with AB
In the ensuing weeks after the disappointing loss, Broner took to social media to provide boxing fans with a reminder that some of the sport’s greatest fighters–including Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali and Roy Jones Jr.–all had multiple losses before the end of their illustrious careers. Their greatness, seemingly, not affected in the same manner his was after just loss No. 3.
On August 7, Broner made a genuinely profound statement with an Instagram post that read, “I lost a fight not my LIFE.” Perhaps things were looking brighter for the former champ.
A couple days prior to the reports surfacing about this latest incident, some Instagram pictures of Broner with a couple of recording artists suggested he was back out in Las Vegas to attend the Mayweather Promotions event that aired on Showtime on September 8.
I lost a fight not my LIFE.
The card was headlined by David Benavidez’s first shot at a vacant Super Middleweight world title against Ronald Gavril, and included a post-Mayweather versus Conor McGregor interview with Floyd. Approximately 24 hours later, Broner would be captured on video footage recorded on the Vegas strip, shoving a woman and punching a man who appeared to be knocked out.
Whether Broner will face legal consequences is unknown at this time, but early in the morning of September 11 the flamboyant 28-year old dropped one of his first social media posts related to the incident, “I know I got problems I just want help.”
All of the white letters on black background posts were deleted as this post was being written but another read, “I just want someone to talk to.”
The confusing thing is, why isn’t this someone naturally the woman the New York Post reported is Broner’s fiancee, Arie Nicole?
The repeated outbursts about deeply personal struggles on the ‘Gram are becoming a part of Broner’s life we don’t really need to see – despite the social media era we live in today. Broner, online, is either criticized for his losses in the ring, slammed for being irresponsible with his career and talent, or he’s being urged to announce his next opponent because he’s still the future of boxing.
However, perhaps the young Cincinnati native who was one of the sport’s fastest rising stars in late-2013 should be looking for peace instead of his next war. And, if Broner wants to get himself together in the public’s eye, I truly can’t think of a better place than Iyanla Vanzant’s Iyanla: Fix My Life. Real talk, Vanzant handles her clients the was Barry Hunter pushes his fighters in between rounds.
Few TV personalities communicate with, challenge and hold people accountable to themselves better than Vanzant–a remarkable spiritual teacher and life coach. This post isn’t an attempt to be funny, it’s a piece expressing this writer’s hope that a troubled young man will use his fame to tap into a resource that a million other everyday African American males could never make happen.
Furthermore, an episode of Fix My Life featuring Broner – whose Instagram account boasts of 695k followers – might make a real difference in the man’s life. And whatever transpires over the hour-long show could possibly influence some of those millions of black men to be real about their self-destructive behavior because like boxing, life isn’t something you play.
Header photo by Amanda Westcott/Showtime
Article photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
Song lyrics based on Jay Z’s song “Kill Jay Z” from his latest album 4:44
