CINCINNATI – The main event participants of Showtime Boxing’s February 18th broadcast met with members of the media, family and friends at Xavier University’s Cintas Center late afternoon January 10th. Former four-division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) and Adrian Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs) took the stage to announce their upcoming bout – both men seemingly eager after only fighting once in 2016.
Cincinnati-native Broner will headline the event, taking on the upset-minded Granados who will make the short trip east from Chicago, Illinois. A win likely sets Broner up for a shot at a fifth world title. An upset possibly positions Granados for his first bid for a major title.
Broner experienced the most inactive year of his career in 2016, in April he stopped Ashley Theophane at 1:10 of the 9th round at the D.C. Armory, but didn’t return home to Cincinnati with the vacant WBA World super lightweight title due to being a half pound overweight. Theophane was Broner’s second consecutive stoppage, as he also broke down Khabib Allahkverdiev in a grueling October 2015 contest which concluded with a 12th-round technical-knock out. That hometown victory represented Broner’s fourth world title.
Granados underscored his busy 2015 campaign with a surprising 8th-round technical-knockout against sure-fire division titlist Amir Imam. The Chicago native won four out of five fights that year, with the lone loss being one of the only two fights that ended with decisions. In a slow 2016 Granados earned a 8-round unanimous decision victory over Ariel Vasquez in July.
Granados stepped to the podium and kept his comments somewhat brief. The 27-year old contender thanked his promoter and business team for landing him the opportunity to fight on Showtime. He stated that he was more than ready to face the biggest challenge in his career, and made it clear he expected to make the most of the moment. Granados reassured the crowd he was coming to Cincinnati next month for a victory, and ended his speech by repeating, “May the best man win.”
Broner joked to the overflowing room that everybody was probably expecting to hear him throw around some Mexicans slurs – adding that he had a few to fire off at Granados. However, Broner spoke to the audience with a great deal of introspection in his remarks, joking again that some in the room had heard this song before from the fighter Mayweather referred to earlier as outspoken. Broner never went as far as to get deeply emotional with his remarks, but his commitment to clean up his act sounded genuine. Those in the audience waiting for a cameo by the “Can Man” were disappointed, as Broner only offered some measured words and told fans to expect the real Adrien Broner on the 18th – not his typical ring persona AB.
In addition to the fighters addressing the media to discuss their ongoing preparations – and more importantly their respective approaches on fight night – a few other noteworthy parties addressed the crowd. Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe and president Floyd Mayweather expressed their gratitude in the opportunity to bring world-class boxing back to the Midwest. Ravone Littlejohn of About Billions Promotions, the presser’s emcee, spoke optimistically about Adrien Broner’s future in boxing and acknowledged key individuals that played integral roles long before The Problem’s debut on HBO. Broner’s trainer, Mike Stafford, also shared a few words about his long-standing friendship with members of the Granados camp, and finished by encouraging Midwest boxing fans to come out February 18th to support a great evening of action.
The Granados camp was joined by at least one representative of TGB Promotions.
After the traditional stare down between Broner and Granados was photographed the opponents and Mayweather all moved to separate areas of the room for further questions and photo opportunities with friends, family, and friends.
Up until fight night when all questions are finally answered in the ring, the pre-fight narrative will involve a couple of major themes. Broner avoiding any negative issues prior to the fight, and entering the ring fully focused. On Granados’ side, can the contender’s pressure and power match those strengths of previous Broner opponents Shawn Porter and Marcos Rene Maidana, respectively? After all, those are the two men who handed Broner the only two defeats on his professional record.
When asked about what could be expected regarding his level of pressure Granados said, “I’ll be just feeling it out and seeing what happens. I mean he’s a dangerous fighter anyways. So I mean I can’t really just jump on him too, I mean obviously I tried that with Amir and it got me caught. But, I’m (un) predictable, we’ll see what I feel that night, I might walk out and try to lay him out immediately, or I might walk out and try to make it a boxing match. We’ll see what I feel that night.”
Regarding his punching power in relation to Maidana’s power Granados replied, “I mean I’m gonna do what I gotta do. Definitely, I mean Maidana definitely seems like an awkward type of fighter, but we can mix it up, I can do different things. I believe, well, I don’t necessarily have the kind of power that Maidana does, but I know the accumulation of my punches wears people down a lot more.”
Broner’s name continues to frequently come up in debates concerning which of today’s fighters can potentially fill the void left by the retirement of Broner’s mentor Floyd Mayweather. At different times Broner has looked like a capable successor, quickly earning World championship titles at 130, 135 and 147 pounds. Broner also boasts a stellar amateur record of 300-19 dating back to the beginning of his work under Stafford’s watchful eye. His record in world title fights currently sits at 9-1 and consists of championships in four weight divisions. A focused Broner undoubtedly poses a monumental challenge to Granados, a determined fighter who admittedly stated that he’s squandered a few opportunities by leaving the outcome of previous fights in the hands of the judges. Come the night of February 18th fans will learn the truth about each fighter’s conviction in today’s remarks.
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There was one cautionary detail mentioned during the press conference. Trainer Mike Stafford mentioned that Granados previously acted as a sparring partner in at least one Broner camp – Stafford praised Granados immensely for his work ethic and toughness. In 2013 some fight fans might recall what happened when Abner Mares, a former sparring partner of Jhonny Gonzalez, faced Gonzalez as his opponent for a defense of the WBC World featherweight championship. That fight never made it to the second-round. Fortunately for fight fans, it sounds like Granados’ bout with Imam taught the Chicagoan a handy thing or two.
Tickets for the event are now available online at Ticketmaster or Premier Boxing Champions, where fans can also find additional information about the event. Pricing ranges from $33 to $266.
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