Broner vs DeMarco: DeMarco to get double fight purse if Broner misses weight according to Gary Shaw

While Adrien Broner has gained a good amount of fans in his short career to date based on his phenomenal talent, he has cost himself plenty of fans through his attitude. While some of that is the simple fight fan picking and choosing of when flash and cockiness are acceptable, a good deal of the damage was done in his last fight when Broner blew off making weight against Vincent Escobedo, coming in more than three pounds over the limit.

His unapologetic attitude following the fight was seen by many as an actual character issue, not simply a personal view that "he's too cocky."

Saturday night Broner will face Antonio DeMarco on HBO and Gary Shaw made it very clear that there is a stiff penalty to be paid should Broner miss weight this time around (via BoxingScene):

"If Broner is even one ounce over the 135-pound [lightweight] limit for this fight," Shaw said, "they’re going to have pay DeMarco double what he’s making for him to fight. We won’t let Broner do what he did the last time he fought, I can promise you that."

Given that this is at 135 and the Escobedo fight was Broner's last at 130, one would hope that the Cincinnati native will be able to come at the contracted weight. But it's interesting to know that Shaw saw fit to protect his fighter from a similar situation.

The real concern for Broner won't be if DeMarco gets a bigger paycheck, it will be in public perception should he pull the same stunt again. While his fights won't disappear from HBO (let's be honest about how TV deals work in this sport), he'll never recover in many the eyes of many if he becomes "that guy." Weight issues tarnished a rising star like Brandon Rios, but Rios was able to stave off becoming a complete lost cause by simply being in too many exciting fights, and he made weight when he moved up in weight. There's also the little fact that Rios looked like he was half dead on the scales from the effort he was putting in while trying to cut while Broner was tweeting pictures of Twinkies.

Broner is too good of a talent to not be a superstar, let's just hope he's got the good sense to not offset that talent with more lazy behavior when it's time to hit the scales.