MARK "TOO SHARP" JOHNSON EXPLAINS HOW TO REBUILD ADRIEN BRONER; ANALYZES LOSS TO MIKEY GARCIA
By
Percy Crawford | August 22, 2017
PC: You have always somewhat came to the defense...maybe not so much came to the defense of Adrien Broner in the past, but more or less understand him and where he comes from. That loss to Mikey Garcia was tough to watch. He offered very little.
MJ:
I think Adrien came to fight. We saw a guy that we now know can make 140. I think that’s the best weight for him. I think AB didn’t fight the way that I think he should have fought. I think he wanted to show people that he wasn’t going to run, he wasn’t going to stalk, he wanted to stay in the pocket and fight him. That’s what he did. Fan-wise, a lot of people like that, but boxing-wise, I think the old AB would have beat Mikey easy.
PC: It doesn’t seem like Broner can really punch or facilitate any offense out of his defensive posture. Is that what you see or is there something else going on?
MJ: He used to be a guy that was a good counter puncher. He used to be a guy that could make a guy miss and make them pay.
I just didn’t see the Adrien Broner that I know who should have gone in there and fought his fight. I think he came in there fighting for respect, which is something that he already has because he is a 4-time world champion. I think he wanted to show Mikey that he couldn’t hurt him and that was the wrong fight plan.
PC: Do you feel like we were watching a fighter that had no game plan or the wrong game plan?
MJ: I never had a game plan. We know what we were going to do. It’s up to a fighter to make me change.
I’ll say one thing about this fight, people always ask me, “Mark, who was your hardest opponent?” I tell people, “Nacho Beristain! Nacho because he had Rafael Marquez who beat me and he had Jhonny Gonzalez who beat me.” So, Adrien Broner’s toughest opponent just may be Robert Garcia. I think we will see Adrien come back. I think there are a lot of fights out there for him at 140, I think there are a lot of fights out there for him at 147, but I like to see him at 140. They still have some names out there for him and Adrien still has a name. Despite his performance, he still went 12 rounds and he had his moments in the fight. Mikey had his moments as well, but I think Adrien will be back.
PC: How? How do you get his confidence back and get him in the talks again?
MJ: I think you take your time with him. You get him back in the gym slowly and get some other people around him who are positive people. You have to make sure he consistently does the things that he did for this camp to make this weight class. I wouldn’t come right back with something big. He is doing his About Billions promotional thing; maybe he will say it’s time for him to focus on that. There are a lot of questions that only he can answer, but the type of guy he is, he’s not walking out of the door like this. I can tell you that.
PC: Adrien Broner conquered 4 divisions at 23 years of age. He recently turned 28 years old. Could he have possibly reached his peak and we have seen the best of him already, because that happens sometimes when a guy achieves a lot early?
MJ: We may be seeing a little bit of that, but also something that was always told to me, “Hard work will beat talent because talent doesn’t work hard.” But this fight, this is something I can’t say because I know he worked hard. And not only did he make weight, but he looked like he was in great shape at the very first press conference that they had. So this is a fight that he really wanted and he really wanted to win. He thought this fight would be his coming out party. When things happen like that, you just have to go back to the drawing board. I think he is still a young fighter, only 28. I think he should take a little time off, do what’s right for him and his family, and then come back. One thing about a guy like Adrien, who loves the spotlight, is he will be back. I guarantee you.
PC: You have a soft spot for Adrien Broner. Why is that?
MJ:
I’ll say this, I have a soft spot for anybody that has the talent to win 4 world titles in 4 different weight classes by the age that he done it in. sometimes things happen too fast and a guy can be too young. I was a guy that sat around and sat around and had to fight until I got those title shots. But I knew what it meant from then on because I had to work so hard and it took so long. I beat the #2 contender in 1993 and didn’t get a title shot until 1996, so I was already developed into this guy that knew what I had to do when I made it there. And maybe Adrien Broner was a guy that got his title, he was blowing through guys and when that happens, you may miss something one day. It may be running that one day; you may only be doing 10 rounds on the bag when you know you’re supposed to be doing 12. I like him. He’s a likeable guy. And when you have accomplished what he’s accomplished, you have to give a guy his props. It’s not as easy as these fans make it out to be to win 4 world titles in 4 different divisions. Now it’s up to him to determine how he wants to be respected and remembered and how his name will resonate in the sport. It’s all up to him and nobody else
MARK "TOO SHARP" JOHNSON EXPLAINS HOW TO REBUILD ADRIEN BRONER; ANALYZES LOSS TO MIKEY GARCIA || FIGHTHYPE.COM
#AboutBillions
that's almost disrespectful.
reasons and america's history of it in boxing. I understand not wanting to root for floyd because of the out of ring shyt but this? Nah this is BS and we both know if kov won the first match with how close it was they wouldn't hesitate to put him #1 p4p and wouldn't give him shyt about a rematch
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