By Ian S Palmer
Adrien Broner of Cincinnati, Ohio will return to the ring when he takes on Adrian Granados of Berwyn, Illinois in a 12-round welterweight contest at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati this Saturday, February 18th. American fans can check out the action live on the Showtime Network and fans in the UK can see it on BoxNation. Broner’s won four world titles in four divisions so far as he’s been a champion at junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. He last fought on April 1st when he stopped Ashley Theophane in the ninth round. It was his first defence of the junior welterweight crown, but Broner couldn’t make weight and lost the title. Granados last fought in July and beat Ariel Vasquez by an eight-round unanimous decision.
The 27-year-old Broner will climb through the ropes with a record of 32-2 along with 24 Kos. Broner suffered his two defeats at the hands of Marcos Maidana of Argentina in 2013 and fellow American Shawn Porter back in June of 2015, who both beat him by 12-round unanimous decisions. Broner possesses enough talent to be an elite boxer, but his maturity level and work habits could both do with a lot of improvement.
He keeps promising fans that he’s changed, but they’ll have to wait until Saturday night to judge for themselves. As usual, Broner has the advantage of fighting at home as this is his 14th pro bout in Cincinatti . This is basically Broner’s fight to lose and he should have learned enough lessons in his two losses to realize what he needs to do to be victorious. Broner stands just over 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 69.5-inch reach. He possesses excellent speed and good power under as well as plenty of pro experience.
Broner’s fought 189 rounds since turning pro in 2008 and has a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent. He’s beaten some good opponents over the years such as Daniel Ponce De Leon, Jason Litzau, Eloy Perez, Vicente Escobedo, Antonio DeMarco, Gavin Rees, Paulie Malignaggi, Carlos Molina, John Molina Jr., Emmanuel Taylor and Khabib Allakhverdiev. Broner may have plenty of problems outside of the ring, but he’s still one of the best boxers inside of the squared circle at the moment.
The 27-year-old Granados enters the contest with a mark of 18-4 with 12 Kos. He has both the height and reach advantage since he’s 5-foot-9 with a wingspan of 74 inches. He also turned pro back in 2008 and has fought 135 rounds since then. Granados carries decent power with his knockout ratio currently sitting at 50 per cent. He’s won five straight contests since dropping a 10-round majority decision to Felix Diaz in November 2014 and a 10-round split decision to Brad Solomon in May of 2015.
Granados has also been beaten by Frankie Gomez by an eight-round unanimous decision in August of 2011 and by four-round split decision to Jose Juan Fuentes in November of 2008. Granados’ draws came against former world champion Kermit Cintron over 10 rounds in March of 2013 and an eight-round affair with Lanardo Tyner in 2011. His best win was an eighth-round stoppage over Amir Imam in November of 2015. His last three losses came against undefeated opponents.
Prediction…
Broner is an elite boxer, but Granados’ aggressive style could give him problems. Granados will need to use his height and reach advantage and put the pressure on Broner all night long to emerge with a victory. Granados should have his moments, but look for Broner to win the bout by decision or late stoppage.
