Floyd Mayweather: Broner should forget about Maidana rematch, go to 140 on May 3 undercard

Floyd Mayweather has been a supporter of Adrien Broner throughout the younger man's boxing career, but he's not been afraid to critique his "little brother," either. Following Broner's first loss to Marcos Maidana last Saturday on Showtime, Mayweather says that Broner should forget an immediate rematch and move down to 140 pounds, a division he skipped this year to go from lightweight to welterweight.

"May 3rd, fight on my undercard. You know, fight a solid guy at 140, get back on track and get your career in order. That fight with Maidana should be nothing but a minor setback for a major comeback."

Mayweather has said in the past that Broner needs to learn when to turn his colorful personality on and when to turn it off, and cites fans throwing objects at Broner after the fight as a sign not that they dislike him, but that they don't respect him.

"But as far as Adrien is concerned, he still has a lot to learn. When I spoke to him after his fight, I said you're gonna have people that like you, you're gonna have people that dislike you. The thing is this, I have fans that like me and I have fans that don't like me, but you're going to respect me. Once people get to throwing bottles and throwing beer on you, throwing different things at you at the fight, you're losing respect from the fans."

Mayweather also says he believes that his father and uncle Roger should be more positive as far as Broner is concerned. Both Floyd Sr and Roger have been vocal about Broner not being what he was cracked up to be, often specifically saying he doesn't compare to Floyd (Jr). It's really nothing new, however, that Floyd Sr and Roger -- both talented fighters themselves -- seem to live their current lives through the undefeated Mayweather, which comes through in their assessment of basically every other fighter. You can't really get a question answered by them about any fighter out there without Sr saying, "my son" and Roger saying, "my nephew."

Honestly, though, I think you have to at least somewhat respect the stance Floyd is taking here. He never talked Broner up bigger than Broner was, I don't think, choosing to stay more realistic. He praised Broner, but didn't avoid pointing out some mistakes he might be making. Floyd's a BSer, because almost everyone in boxing is, especially once you start becoming a promoter/businessman inside the sport, but as many things as he says that I don't agree with, or think are total or at least largely nonsense, I think he's showing the potential to be a legit promoter here, and Broner's not even under his banner.