Cincinnati's Adrien Broner on verge of global stardom

• Fighter wants his reputation not Mayweather's to speak
• Broner attracting an HBO audience
• Cincinnati has a hold on undefeated boxer

For 23-year-old Adrien Broner, it always seems to come down to a comparison with Floyd Mayweather Jr., perhaps the pre-eminent boxer of his generation.

Not that Broner minds being compared to the 35-year-old undefeated five-division champion from Grand Rapids, Mich., whose ring antics and fighting style Broner has emulated, but he wants to set the record straight.

"I want everybody to see me for me. Stop calling me the next Floyd Mayweather," he told USA TODAY Sports in a recent interview, leading up to his lightweight title fight Saturday in Atlantic City (HBO, 10 p.m. ET) against WBC champion Antonio DeMarco. "I'm the one and only, the first Adrien Broner."

Everything Broner does — from having his hair brushed after winning a fight, to mock proposing to his girlfriend during a postfight interview, to his videos featuring his rap alter-ego, "AJ Da Problem," to rapping while walking in before fights, and to his undeniable skills in the ring — are designed to catapult the Cincinnati kid to global stardom.

He sees it coming sooner rather than later, and he's not afraid to let the world know that the Broner Express, which features speed, quickness, power and defense, and some unusual behavior, is prepared to steamroll anything in its path, including DeMarco and any future challengers.

Influenced by Mayweather

Asked where he thinks he will be a year from now, Broner unhesitatingly answers, "I'll probably take over the sport." And five years from now? "I'll be one of the greatest boxers there ever was," he says. "The sky's the limit right now. I'm at a point in my career where I can do some of the biggest things that's ever been done in the sport."

With his record (24-0, 20 KOs), it's hard to argue. HBO is certainly sold on Broner's rising star. In July, despite Broner losing his WBO super featherweight title on the scales after weighing in more than 3 pounds over the limit, his fifth-round stoppage of little-known Vicente Escobedo attracted 1.4 million viewers, Boxing After Dark's biggest viewing audience in 2012.

Broner says he has copied many of the things that have made Mayweather the world's top pound-for-pound fighter, including the famous shoulder roll.

"Yes, of course, I got it from Floyd," he says. "I took some of his antics and put it in my repertoire, and it works for me. But at the end of the day, I'm still Broner."

While thinking globally, Broner has not forgotten his hometown.

"Legacy is very important. It always starts locally," he said during a conference call with news reporters Wednesday. "If you don't have a big name in your hometown, how do you expect to have a name anywhere else?"

Cincinnati has a long history of great boxers, from former champions Ezzard Charles and Aaron Pryor to three-time Olympian Rau'shee Warren and a man Broner says will be a future star, Ricardo Williams. Broner has fought in Cincinnati for 11 of his 24 professional fights.

"I always want to come home and fight. It's a great crowd, and they love me there," Broner says. "We have a lot of great fighters that came out of Cincinnati. And now I'm on the rise. I'm definitely going to bring boxing back to Cincinnati."

Broner's antics might be polarizing to some, but he says he's only having fun while taking care of business. "I was always told to go out there and have fun, and that's what I do," he says unabashedly.

Formidable opponent

Like his good friend Warren, Broner was looking to make the team for the Beijing Olympics when he was derailed and ended up in prison, where he spent 14 months. He declines to discuss the charges. Being locked up, he has said, strengthened his resolve to become the best boxer he could be.

"I always wanted to make an Olympic team, but I didn't, and I'm in a bigger, better place now," he says.

His sights are set sky high.

"I want to be the first boxer to generate a billion dollars," he says.

He has to get by the champion first. He has never faced anyone like southpaw DeMarco (28-2-1, 21 KOs), who is coming off a first-round KO of John Molina, nearly a year after a bloody battle with top prospect Jorge Linares. DeMarco was way behind on all the scorecards when he opened a cut on Linares' nose and stopped him in the 11th round, gaining the utmost respect as a fighter who never gives up.

"I am very well prepared, because I know Adrien is extremely talented and a great fighter," DeMarco, 26, of Mexico, said through an interpreter. "Whoever wins this fight will have many opportunities to further his career. I want those opportunities. I want what every boxer wants ... recognition and success."

But Broner says DeMarco's ring skills will bring out the best in him.

"They say if one good talent goes up against another good talent, it brings out something in the elite," he says. "I am a lot stronger than people think, and on Saturday you will see that against DeMarco."

Then he finished with a typical Broner flourish.

"We are going head over heels, balls to the walls with this one. It is time to put on a show," he says. "You aren't just coming to see a boxing show, you're coming to the Adrien Broner Show," he says.