Nothing but trouble

Four months ago, Adrien Broner very publicly handed $1000 to a homeless man. We know this because he made sure the gesture was taped and broadcast.

Days later, the same man was found beaten up and minus his $1000 with Broner cast as the villain of the piece for putting the spotlight on the vagrant.

This is how it is for the three-time world boxing champion, an outrageous Floyd Mayweather Jnr wannabe who fights Emmanuel Taylor in his Cincinnati home town this weekend. He keeps messing up.

Broner, 25, has plenty of talent. The way he plants his feet and digs punches in makes him a formidable foe for anyone.

"I'm the guy who'll be taking over boxing once Floyd retires," he tells anyone who will listen.

Except that we indulge Mayweather's excesses because he backs up his smack talk by delivering. It is what makes him the best in the business.

Broner is not on the same level, as we saw last December when Argentina's Marcos Maidana put him down twice and ended his unbeaten run. Suddenly, the man who calls himself "The Problem" had issues of his own to deal with.

Broner is very much a creature of the ghetto. He once flushed $20 bills down the toilet - highlighted via social media, naturally. It is the style of the man, if that's the right word to use for one of boxing's thugs.

Even with all his talent, it is difficult to warm to Broner. After his comeback fight against Carlos Molina in May he raged: "I've beaten Africans and I've just beaten the f**k out of a Mexican."

The Mexico-based World Boxing Council suspended him .

Broner infuriates by strutting around the ring both before and after fights. His signature move is having his father brush his hair while he pouts and preens.

Even though he constantly apologises for his behaviour, he is seemingly addicted to the chaos of the street.

Mayweather could get away with it because of his artistry and aptitude. Broner, loud-mouthed and louche, is simply the great pretender.