By Edward Chaykovsky

WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. has advised his friend, Adrien Broner, to drop down from the welterweight division and resume his career at 140-pounds. In June, Broner was the WBC lightweight champion and made a two division leap to 147 to face WBA champion Paulie Malignaggi. He struggled in the fight and won a close twelve round split decision. Last Saturday night in San Antonio, Broner faced top contender Marcos Maidana, who is bigger and much stronger than Malignaggi. Maidana dropped Broner twice and won a wide unanimous decision.

Broner (27-1, 22KOs) has been calling for a rematch with Maidana, but Mayweather says a Maidana rematch is not the right move. Mayweather returns on May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and offered an undercard spot for Broner's 140-pound debut.

He also told Broner to reconnect with fans, after witnessing how the audience pelted the once-beaten fighter with various objects in the aftermath of his first defeat.

"I don't think he should be focused on chasing the Maidana fight. I think what would be a good move for him is this. May 3rd, fight on my undercard; you know, fight a solid guy at 140, get back on track and get your career in order. That fight with Maidana should be nothing but a minor setback for a major comeback. But as far as Adrien is concerned, he still has a lot to learn," Mayweather told Fighthype.com.

"When I spoke to him after his fight, I said you're gonna have people that like you; you're gonna have people that dislike you. The thing is this, I have fans that like me and I have fans that don't like, but you gonna respect me. Once people get to throwing bottles and throwing beer on you, throwing different things at you at the fight, you're losing respect from the fans."