Adrien Broner used to tell anybody who would listen that Floyd Mayweather is his “big brother.” But over the past few months that relationship appears to have been strained a bit. Broner has said some less-than-flattering things about the fighters on Mayweather’s “Money Team” roster and Mayweather expressed confusion over Broner speaking ill of his fighters.
It all culminates when Broner faces TMT’s Ashley Theophane on April 1 in a fight that could further divide Broner from his mentor. Broner took Mayweather and his team to task at a recent press conference with some disparaging remarks.
“I respect Floyd but at the end of the day they are not on my [expletive] side,” Broner said while continuing to pay his respect to Mayweather. “But I have got to say [expletive] them guys. Right now, they are coming to dethrone me. [I can’t] go into the fight like they are my friends. Right now, they are my enemies and that’s what it is. So, hell yeah, I'm going to beat the [expletive] out of Ashley.”
The 28-year-old who currently sports a 31-2 record is looking to hand Theophane (39-6-1) his first loss in six fights. Broner has faced stiffer opposition but will need to impress as he looks to get his career back on track after dropping a relatively one-sided unanimous decision to Shawn Porter last June. Perhaps this is a way for Broner to show that he’s more serious than ever about his boxing career.
Shortly after the media conference, Mayweather responded to Broner’s comments.
“Adrien Broner got up there and said ‘[expletive] TMT’ and we are a company that’s making millions. But remember when Adrien Broner lost to Marcos Maidana, I was the first one there that had his back and a shoulder for him to cry on when everyone else turned their back on him,” said Mayweather, who chalked Broner’s comments up to immaturity. Ultimately, Mayweather opted for the high road.
“Am I going to bash Adrien Broner and say something bad about him? Absolutely not,” Mayweather said. “I’m not going to do that…I used to say things when I was younger but I’m almost 40 now and I look at things totally different. I’m not going to carry myself in a childish way.”
