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Adrien Broner returns to the boxing ring on February 18th, 2017 against Adrian Granados at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Problem
Broner is known by his double meaning nickname ‘The Problem”. That’s because when he’s focused, he is a handful for his opponents inside the ring. Broner’s mix of speed, athleticism and power easily make him one of the sport’s best fighters. In fact, the 27-year old Broner has already won world titles in four different weight classes. However, there’s a big ‘if’ with Adrien Broner.
When he isn’t fully committed to his craft, Broner has been a big problem. His lack of professionalism, poor work habits and off the ring distractions have cost him not just possible world titles but big money fights with big time fighters. Broner was ( and still is?) a protege of Floyd Mayweather Jr. As such, he intends to follow Floyd’s road to becoming a multi-million dollar fighter. But before he realizes his self created monicker ‘About Billions’, he’s got to get his act together for good. AB has won two in a row, both by stoppage and will be looking to cement a title shot against Ricky Burns.
A Scrappy Opponent
Getting another world title may be looking to far ahead. Broner’s opponent isn’t a household name but is a solid fighter. Adrian Granados is ranked in the Top 5 by both the WBA (#3) and WBC (#5).
He’s coming off a victory over Ariel Vasquez in July of 2016. Granados’ ticket to fame was his 2015 victory over Amir Imam. However, Granados has fought only once since that win and that was against Vasquez. The scrappy Illinois native is an aggressor inside the ring and doesn’t give up easily.
He’s lost four times in his career but has never been knocked out. He’s a solid dude who won’t be rattled by the moment, fighting a 4-division champion like Broner and fighting in Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s gonna go there and scrap with AB.
The Odds
Broner is the -290 favorite while Granados the +245 underdog in this fight. We all know the stuff that Broner is made of but many of us haven’t seen Granados fight. But the key to this fight is which Adrien Broner will show up on fight night.
When Broner is on top of his game, he is one of the better fighters in the sport today. He is more skilled than Granados and should take this one by decision. If we gauge his last two bouts, we can say that it looks like Broner has matured at age 27. He’s fighting at home and is looking ahead at a title fight with Burns. That should be more than enough motivation for him to zero in on this bout. But then he’s Adrien Broner, the biggest enigma this sport has ever seen.
You really can’t predict which one’s gonna show up on the day of the fight. Given that risk though and weighing it with his talent level, we’re picking Broner to beat Granados here.
