Is Adrien Broner Becoming An Afterthought?

Broner needs to take a better path

First things first - I have no idea whether or not Adrien Broner is guilty of beating the hell out of some poor guy outside a bowling alley. What I do know, however, is that Broner's dysfunctional bad boy persona is catching up to him in that it's now clearly overshadowing any talent he shows in the ring. People used to be infuriated by Broner's arrogance. Now he's arguably laughed at more than scorned.

That's telling.

Of course, Broner might be taken more seriously if he fought people other than the likes of Ashley Theophane. That's no knock on Theophane, by the way. At this point I wouldn't be stunned if he pulled off the upset against Broner this weekend, making himself well deserving of any accolades he receives. The truth, however, is that Theophane isn't the known commodity Broner is, and there's a lot of dangerous opposition out there Broner could face right now.

At this point, I'm not even sure the Theophane fight is a case of classic Al Haymon matchmaking or if Haymon and company actually need to see if Broner can perform at the top level at this point in his career. It's not that Broner doesn't have talent. We all know he does. It's that everyone rightfully questions whether or not he takes that talent seriously enough.

Muhammad Ali had the biggest mouth in the world - but he'll always be known first and foremost for his ring accomplishments. Broner, on the other hand, is know known first and foremost for his antics. And not without good reason. If the man doesn't start proving himself in the ring, he'll simply vanish into the ether - if he hasn't begun to already.