Boxing: Broner’s Boner

The question has yet to be fully resolved, but as of Easter, it appeared that WBA super lightweight champion Adrien Broner (31-2, 23 KOs) might not be available to punch for pay on April 1 against challenger Ashley Theophane (39-6-1, 11 KOs) in a bout that supposedly will be televised via “PBC on Spike” from the DC Armory in the nation’s capital.

It is possible, however, that the hot-tempered, quick-fisted but foggy-thinking Broner will be considered for the host’s role should that old television staple from its black-and-white era, “Bowling for Dollars,” be revived with a plot twist: the loser bids to reclaim his squandered cash by literally beating the snot out of the guy who posts a higher score on the lanes. Talk about your real-life April Fool’s Day scenarios.

Regardless of whether the Broner-Theoplane fight comes off, but particularly if it does not, someone is sure to nominate the Floyd Mayweather Jr. wannabe for a 2016 Darwin Award -- the highly unofficial, tongue-in-cheek designations that “recognize individuals who have contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool” by their ridiculous and sometimes highly illegal actions.

What happened in the early-morning hours of Jan. 21 in Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati definitely should put him in contention for a Darwin title belt. Not only did Broner, who apparently fancies himself to be the pugilistic equivalent of Dick Weber or Don Carter (they were legendary professional bowlers, for those of you unfamiliar with the sport), but he was willing to put up some serious money to prove it against a guy who proceeded to hustle him out of thousands of bucks.

The first rule of participatory sports gambling is simple, or at least should be: No matter how accomplished an athlete you are in your own field, never make the mistake of thinking that ability will yield a profit when you meet up with an ordinary-looking dude who might seem to be a mark ready to be taken. There were more than a few times when basketball’s greatest performer, Michael Jordan, who fancied himself to be Tiger Woods with a seven-iron in his hands, had to dip into his wallet to pay off bets to potbellied country club members who said, sure, they’d be only too glad to play a round with him for some serious scratch per hole.

Apparently Broner wasn’t thinking of His Airness’ putting-green bricks when he agreed to go bowling for dollars -- a lot of them -- against the alleged victim, Christopher Carson. Nor did he heed the advice of that little voice in his head, if indeed he heard it, that continuing to wager when he was being taken to the cleaners might not have been the wisest course of action.

Push came to shove when Carson -- who had won $14,000 in side bets from Broner, according to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer, which obtained a copy of the lawsuit Carson filed against the fighter on Feb. 5 -- declined Broner’s offer of a $6,000 bet on a final game and attempted to go home with his winnings.

Being rebuffed in his attempt to win back part of the money -- Who goes to a bowling alley with $14,000 in his pocket, anyway? -- he had lost apparently enraged Broner, who, backed by his eight-man entourage, confronted Carson in the parking lot outside the bowling alley. Sources indicated to TMZ Sports that Broner demanded that Carson return the money he had lost. When he refused, he allegedly punched him in the face and neck, nearly knocking the man out cold.

According to court documents, Broner then “retrieved a handgun from his vehicle, approached the victim, demanded the money [again], then struck [the victim] in the face with a closed fist a second time, this time causing the victim to be rendered unconscious. Broner was then observed taking the money out of the victim’s pockets while he was unconscious before fleeing the scene.”

A warrant has been issued for Broner’s arrest on charges of felonious assault and aggravated robbery, putting his scheduled title defense against Theophane -- who, somewhat ironically, is promoted by Mayweather, Broner’s onetime hero and role model -- in serious jeopardy.

“I seriously doubt [he will be able to fight] unless he turns himself in and makes some kind of arrangement with the court,” a source in the Cincinnati Police Department told RingTV.com. “They would have to decide that. His lawyer will be able to make a request, and it will be up to the judge.”

Even if Carson separates Broner from an even larger portion of his boxing swag in civil court, it is unlikely a plea for leniency, should Carson even decide to make one, would result in the dropping of the criminal charges. Broner might have a penchant for outrageous and unpredictable behavior, but any past misdeeds pale in comparison to the bowling-alley beatdown. The 26-year-old bad boy of boxing, who is aptly nicknamed “The Problem,” is facing some major jail time if the case goes to trial and he is convicted.

To quote movie dullard Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does,” which is why Broner’s name should soon join those of others who, if they weren’t designated as recipients of Darwin Awards, should have been. Consider some of these other fighters who apparently did not use their brains to, you know, actually think.

No. 1 on anyone’s list of all-time boxing screw-ups has to be the late Tony “El Torito” Ayala Jr., who, to some people’s way of thinking, might have been as good as or even better than contemporaries Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran. However, Ayala’s ascending career came to a screeching halt in 1983 when he was convicted of the rape of a 30-year-old schoolteacher. Only 19 at the time, Ayala was the WBA’s top-ranked super welterweight with a 22-0 record that included 19 victories inside the distance. The rape convicteion came when he already was on 10 years’ probation for the attempted rape of a teenage girl at a drive-in theater in Ayala’s hometown of San Antonio. The victim, who in that case asked for leniency for Ayala in exchange for a $40,000 settlement, was beaten so badly that she suffered a ruptured bladder and bruised kidneys. Charges against Ayala later were reduced to aggravated assault.

Ayala, who was found dead at 52 of a drug overdose on May 12, 2015, served 16 years of a 35-year sentence before being released from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, in April 1999. Although he resumed his career with some success, he found himself in trouble again when he was arrested on Dec. 12, 2000, after being shot in the shoulder by 18-year-old Nancy Gomez, who was awakened at 3:45 a.m. to see a man dressed in black moving around her darkened home. Another long prison stretch followed.

Broner’s present situation has yet to reach such critical mass, but other elite fighters whose bright futures were dimmed or extinguished by criminal charges or convictions include Jermain Taylor, Ike Ibeabuchi and Paul Spadafora.

Taylor, the only fighter to have posted two victories over the legendary Bernard Hopkins, is a two-time former middleweight champion who was scheduled to defend his IBF belt against Sergio Mora on Feb. 6, 2015. However, the fight was canceled when Taylor suffered an injury in training and was later charged with shooting and wounding his cousin during a heated argument at Taylor’s home. Taylor subsequently was arrested and charged with multiple felonies, which resulted in the IBF stripping him of his title.

Ibeabuchi, a big-punching Nigerian who was widely considered to be one of the brightest lights in the heavyweight division following back-to-back victories over fellow contenders David Tua and Chris Byrd, was arrested on July 22, 1999 and charged with sexually assaulting a woman working for an outcall escort service in his Las Vegas hotel room. On Nov. 8, 2001, Ibeabuchi submitted an Alford plea on charges of battery with intent to commit a crime and attempted sexual assault. Although he did not admit to the charges, Ibeabuchi’s defense team conceded it was likely the prosecution had enough evidence that their client would be found guilty. He received sentences of two to 10 years for the battery conviction and three to 20 years on the attempted sexual assault, with a judge ruling that the sentences be served consecutively.

Now 43, Ibeabuchi -- who was rumored to be suffering from schizophrenia even before the incident in that Vegas hotel room that led to his incarceration -- has indicated his intention to resume his career and achieve the level of success he might have had were it not for the night that forever changed his life.

Spadafora is a former IBF lightweight champ who, on Oct. 29, 2003, was arrested in the shooting of his pregnant girlfriend, Nadine Russo. The man known as “The Pittsbugh Kid” was released after posting a $50,000 bond, but on Feb. 23, 2005, he was sentenced to 21 to 60 months in prison for the attempted murder of Russo. Spadafora served 32 months and has since resumed his career, but at 40, it is doubtful he can rise to his past heights.

Boxing’s Darwin Awards are not the exclusive province of fighters who run afoul of the law. Consider the unwise decisions made by heavyweights Tommy Morrison and Alex Garcia, who cost themselves a lot of money, and in Morrison’s case much more than that.

Morrison apparently paid little or no heed to the Nov. 7, 1991 announcement by Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson that he was HIV-positive. Morrison continued to have frequent unprotected sex with a succession of women. Despite his recklessness, it was nonetheless a shock when, on Feb. 15, 1996, the former WBO heavyweight champion revealed that he also was HIV-positive.

Unlike Johnson, who has maintained good health despite his condition, Morrison was just 44 when he died on Sept. 1, 2013. His wife, Trisha, who married him in 2011, attributed the cause of death to Gullain-Barre Syndrome, although other sources indicated it was from respiratory and metabolic acidosis and multiple organ failures.

On the non-medical front, Morrison lost out on a potential $8 million payday against WBC heavyweight titlist Lennox Lewis when he opted to pick up a quick $1 million for a seemingly safe WBO defense against unheralded Michael Bentt on Oct. 29, 1993. Bentt knocked down “The Duke” three times in the first round to score a quick technical knockout victory. Morrison did procure his shot at Lewis on Oct. 7, 1995, but he took a dreadful beating en route to a sixth-round stoppage loss.

Garcia had a dream of becoming the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion of the world, but he and his manager reportedly declined a career-high $1 million offer to fight comebacking, fortysomething George Foreman on HBO because they mistakenly believed a matchup with Foreman would be worth $5 million if Garcia bided his time and continued to climb in the ratings. However, Garcia’s master plan went up in a puff of smoke when he was whacked out in two rounds by journeyman Mike Dixon on June 8, 1993, in a keep-busy bout in which Garcia was paid -- get this -- $15,000. At the time, Garcia was 32-1 with 26 KOs while Dixon was just 15-14 on his way to a final record of 16-30.

Nobody said doing the right thing all the time is easy. Fighters are no different from anyone else in that when, they go goofy, they sometimes do so in a major way.

Bernard Fernandez, a five-term president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, received the Nat Fleischer Award from the BWAA in April 1999 for lifetime achievement and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, as well as the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013. The New Orleans-born sports writer has worked in the industry since 1969 and pens a weekly column on the Sweet Science for Sherdog.com.