Mayweather Spars Broner

Floyd Mayweather has been stirring the pot, taking shots at all sorts of folks. He went at Adrien Broner, which took Broner by surprise. The Ohio-based boxer answered, filming a video response. This after Floyd took him to task for taking an “easy” fight, for a title, after coming off a loss, to Shawn Porter.

Broner seems for real miffed when he says that Floyd should respect that he's a four-time world champion.

Floyd took issue with Broner supposedly not being appreciative enough, to, for example, advisor Al Haymon. In the video comeback, Broner explains that Al Haymon picks his foes, and why should Floyd be dissing the people he's fought, because, in fact, he's dissing Haymon. He tells Floyd to pick up the phone, instead of talking smack about someone he's declared he loves. basically, he's calling Floyd a snake, for taking out of both sides of his mouth.

He then admits he could have said some things about fighting Mayweather fighter Ashley Theophane in a different way, but wanted to make clear he respects him as a talent. But as a person, no, Floyd gets an L, Broner says. “N, you got some growing up to do..and you older than me..That s–t you did was weak…Then you gonna bring up the Bruce Jenner (stuff),” he said, almost starting to get into a takedown on Floyd being a fake friend to gays. He finishes off by saying he's supportive of The Money Team/Mayweather Promotions, and he wishes the whole crew well. But, he says both of them are too big for this sort of “childish a– s–t,” and he then again asks for a return phone call. “That was some g-y a– (stuff),” he says.

I spoke to Broner's trainer, Mike Stafford, and the tutor said he was a bit surprised at the Mayweather slams at AB. “I don't know why Floyd did that,” Stafford told me. Stafford defends his kid as having come up the hard way, not getting that Olympic experience that Mayweather did, and believes he's getting short shrift from Floyd in that Fight Hype piece. Let's recall, Stafford said, Broner was veering off course, was facing 30 some years in jail, and boxing kept him on a decent path. He's a success story, and why is Floyd tearing that down…after all, boxing has been a similar savior, to him…

“Adrien has earned everything he's gotten,” Stafford said. “You can't take that away…And he's not going to let anyone bully him around.” he says his kid is properly appreciative, of Haymon and of him, and others instrumental in his rise.”

All in all, Stafford was mildly miffed, surprised, again, because he says Mayweather is and was always cool to him and them.

I do wonder if it's AB, all business, Floyd stirring to pot to get some buzz if indeed his fighter Theophane gets a crack at Broner in January. Could well be, Floyd is canny at working the system for buzz.