Following a victory over Paul Malignaggi, Adrien Broner responds to a question in a post-fight interview saying: “I took his belt…and his girl,” in reference to a controversy over a mutual female acquaintance they shared.

While the crowd roared in reaction to such a brass statement, it was hardly a surprising action from a young man whose nickname is “the problem.” Adrien Broner is a popular 24 year old boxer, known as much for is antics outside of the ring as inside of it. The Flashy young fighter comes across as arrogant, belittles his opponents in a variety of ways, and even has his dad brush the waves in his hair during post-fight interviews after victories. Some of his more infamous antics include flushing money down the toilet on YouTube, rap videos with soldier boy, and performing explicit acts with strippers on stage. He’s the stereotypical loud-mouth Black man in public…but some of that may be our fault as fans.

To understand my point, it may be important to first have a discussion about the business of boxing. Compared to other sports, the marketing and popularity of a fighter as an individual plays a relatively high role in each fighter’s ability to succeed in the sport. Winning is still important of course, but at a certain level the amount of interest a boxer can generate directly impacts their opportunities to land opportunities to fight, and the amount they will be compensated for such fights. In other words, fan friendly boxers will make more money than less interesting boxers of equal, and even greater, skill levels. For Black boxers, generating this kind of interest sometimes means fitting into familiar roles.

In a sport where individual entertainment value is crucial to a fighter’s success, popular Black boxers, consciously or unconsciously, often market themselves as the Black caricatures they can best fit into. As the popularity of boxing has decreased over the years, it has become increasingly difficult for a fighter, of any color, to gain the kind of attention that leads to financial success. It pays off to be that flashy loud mouth, or that aggressive thug-like boxer that isn’t afraid of anyone. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a boxer escorted to the ring with a live gangsta rap performance, and, like gangsta rap, it pays to be the loudest, baddest, and flashiest guy in the room. Nobody embodies this aspect of the business of boxing more than the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Floyd’s public persona as a flashy, loud mouth, braggadocios Black male has helped him become the highest paid athlete in American Sports for two years in a row. While Mayweather has been an extremely talented boxer for the entirety of his 17 year pro career, he did not become the financial giant he is today until the world started hearing him boast and brag about his own greatness. Nicknamed “Money Mayweather,” he is not shy about flaunting his wealth in public and boasting about his own greatness. According to Floyd Mayweather, later quoted by Cedric Muhammad,  The thing people need to realize is that Money Mayweather is a [character/caricature.] And that’s what these fighters need to learn about business. If you had a character you’d have something to sell. But a lot of these fighters don’t have nothing to sell because they don’t have any personality.” He’s right. Although Floyd Mayweather Jr. is arguably the best boxer in the world, he’s the highest paid athlete the U.S. because people will pay to see the caricature that is “Money Mayweather.”

Do not let me mislead you when I call “Money Mayweather” a Caricature, because I am a huge Floyd Mayweather Jr. fan. His work ethic and savvy business mind is to be respected if not admired. Mayweather only recognizes the game he’s playing- a game where his “Money Mayweather” caricature is almost as valuable as his actual talent. By being a flashy, borderline arrogant, do what I want and say what I want character, fans will pay as much to root against him as they will to root for him to win. Mayweather was not earning the over $40 million for one fight when he was just a boxer. It is the caricature of “Money Mayweather” that makes Floyd Mayweather Jr., the boxer, so compelling. The fact that his caricature is so successful says more about the fans than it does about the boxer.

I’ll be Frank…fans still love a good minstrel show. We have been conditioned to watch Black people portray the most exaggerated aspects of African American culture and mannerisms. Although Amos “n” Andy has turned into Love and Hip-Hop, and Dolemite has turned into Worldstarhiphop.com, it is clear that fans- of all races- will watch coonery in high numbers. I’m not holier than thou either- I JUST watched one of those vine compilation videos on Worldstar. Whether we watch for a laugh or in disgust we watch it, and more importantly we pay for it…in more ways than one.

Let me go back to Adrien Broner as an example of what I’m talking about, and in doing so I will try to be as fair as possible. Adrien Broner has openly styled himself as the next closest boxer to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one way or another. Like Floyd, he is blessed with physical talents that are superior to the majority of his contemporaries, and he even utilizes a similar “Philly Shell” defensive stance in fights. Broner looks up to Floyd Mayweather Jr. as a mentor, and even calls him his “big bro.” But the real comparison of the two boxers lies in their caricatures.

Adrien Broner may be an example of someone so engrossed in his caricature, that it has affected his approach to what’s important. Broner obviously learned from his “big bro” the value of having a character in boxing that is entertaining enough to be sold to the public. To some degree it’s worked for him also, as he is worth an estimated $3 million dollars- a feat that is pretty impressive at his age and experience level. But while Broner has cashed in with his rap videos and growing popularity, he has been accused of losing focus in his actual job of boxing, as evidenced by the beating he took on December 14^th, 2013 against Carlos Maidana. That loss followed a highly competitive bout against a tough, but somewhat less talented, Paul Malignaggi where Broner admitted he did not take his training seriously. But Broner can have a lapse in training like that because we as fans have made it clear that we aren’t paying for him just to box- we’re paying to see him play a role.

Fans don’t support the great boxers just for their greatness. Adrien Broner is not on any expert’s pound for pound list, yet he is worth more money than Andre Ward, arguably the 2^nd best boxer, pound for pound, in the world. Timothy Bradley is undefeated and owns a victory over Many Pacquiao, yet he’s worth about the same amount as Broner. But Timothy Bradley and Andre Ward are Black boxers who aren’t known for their animated behavior and making it rain on strippers, so we pay more attention (and money) to Adrien Broner. Meanwhile, Broner Runs the risk of taking this message from the fans to heart, and could truly miss out on the opportunity to turn his extraordinary physical gifts into a career of greatness by over-pursuing the easy fame that comes with foolishness. But that’s partially our fault…he’s just giving us what we’re asking for.

Boxing is special because it reveals some of the most basic aspects of our character as people, both the good and the bad. The toughness of the human spirit you see when a fighter gets up after a knockdown, or the display of pride when a fan roots for a fighter representing his or her country. But our ugliness is revealed too, whether we boo a brilliant display of defense that doesn’t lead to someone getting hurt, or we cheer when Adrien Broner belittles his Paul Malignaggi after a fight by bragging about his sexual exploits with the fighter’s “girl.” We watch boxing for its entertainment value, so when we support the minstrelsy of a Black man instead of his abilities as an elite fighter, we say to promoters and fighters alike to “give us more of this.” I’m not saying don’t pay for Mayweather and Broner’s next fight because I definitely will. The question is, are you watching to see the fight or the minstrel show?