[B]oxing’s storied history of close familial relationships will come to life this Father’s Day Weekend as Premier Boxing Champions returns to NBC on June 20 and CBS on June 21 live from MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fighters featured on both of these stacked cards have close relationships with their own fathers, are fathers themselves or have found a father figure in the boxing gym.
Moreover, fans of the sweet science are often born into a longstanding love for the sport that is passed on from generation to generation as fathers share the tradition of watching boxing at home with their families. As Premier Boxing Champions continues to bring great action to network television, this Father’s Day Weekend of back-to-back fight cards is another opportunity for fathers to continue to pass this tradition along.
On Saturday, Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-1, 22 KOs) and “Showtime” Shawn Porter(25-1-1, 16 KOs) will face off in a fiercely competitive 12-round matchup.
From the legendary duo of Floyd Mayweather, co-promoter of this weekend’s PBC fight cards, and his father Floyd Mayweather Sr. to other famed father-son teams such as Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and Julio Jr. and Don and Felix “Tito” Trinidad, the importance of fatherhood is as prevalent in the sweet science now as it has always been, as evidenced by the thoughts and comments stated below from this weekend’s featured fighters.
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ADRIEN BRONER
My dad ‘Pops’ was the first person to take me to the boxing gym and that is where we met Coach Mike [Stafford]. My dad just knew that he wanted me to box and he took me to the right place. Everyone calls my dad ‘Pops’ because he’s like a dad to everyone around me – my friends, fighters in the gym…everyone. He’s always been there 100 percent of the time. Me and my dad are both a little crazy. We are similar people. We are both cut from a different cloth, we like to have fun and work hard. We mesh.
My dad usually comes to camp the last two weeks, so he is at the gym every day leading up to the fights. When he’s not with me in the gym, he is working on cars as a mechanic in Cincinnati.
[On being a father] I love being with my kids. I like to do fun things with them and give them more than I had as a kid. I love when they come to the gym and come to my fights. When my youngestAdrieon was born, I was there every step of the way and now this Father’s Day is going to be even better when I win.
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SHAWN PORTER
My dad has always been there from sports to school and has helped me through all of it. He is an anomaly because he was always there as a single father. You don’t really find that too much in the African-American community – a single dad that wants to be there for his children the way my dad has been there for me and my brother.
Every day is kind of like Father’s Day for us. I want to make this one very memorable and it is the first of many to come. But obviously Sunday will be much better if I win. I feel like I make his day every day. It’s him and I. It’s what we do. You have your good days and bad days. For me being a son and an athlete team, it makes me want to perform on a different level.
The pair will square off on NBC. The live telecast starts at 8:30PM EST.