Streaming Link: https://twitter.com/i/live/828737836316717057
This probably isn’t going to be a fight of the year or anything, but it’s a solid match up and the best boxing match that you can watch for free. Adrien Broner and Adrian Granados will be heading a card on Showtime Championship Boxing, but in a bit of a surprise move, they’ve recently announced that the entire card will be streamed on Twitter. If you’re able to read this article, you’ll be able to This is pretty good news, as boxing in the 21st century has been difficult for casual fans to access, with the majority of fights happening on PPV or broadcast on premium networks. This isn’t unprecedented, though, last year Showtime similarly streamed Deontay Wilder’s title defense against Artur Szpilka on youtube.
Adrien “The Problem” Broner is an interesting figure in Boxing, in that he’s somewhat of a self-declared star. He’s a good fighter, extremely talented even, but never quite good enough to achieve what he wants. He’s styled himself as a successor to Mayweather, but both his in-ring style and out of the ring actions seem more like an imitation than the real thing. See, The Problem’s biggest problem is himself, he’s trapped between incredible ambition and questionable dedication. This has made him inconsistent. When he brings his best game, he’s a top level talent. If his mentality fades, he can get in trouble. There’s definitely some question of that in this fight, as Broner allegedly had trouble making the originally negotiated weight, and has brought the fight up to 147 pounds.
This may sound sour, but an inconsistent fighter can be an entertaining fighter, especially with the right dance partner. I think Granados is the right fighter for this match up. Granados doesn’t have the star power or the high ceiling that Broner does, but he’s a good fighter who gives tough fights to other good fighters. Broner will be the favorite here, but to overcome Granados he’ll have to stay on top of his game all night. Broner is an extremely accurate puncher who picks his shots, but competitive bout can bring out the fighter in him. Granados is tough, packs a punch and does not lose easily. He’s lost 4 times, all by split decision or majority decision, never by unanimous decision. Granados will look to push the action here. Based on Broner’s previous losses to Shawn Porter and Marcos Maidana, this is exactly the fight he’s susceptible to losing. This is a real fight, and I wouldn’t be surprised is Granados pulls it out of the bag. On the flipside, a Broner win here would mean that he’s potentially gotten past some of the issues that have given him trouble in the past.
You can read more about Adrien Broner and this fight in this article by my colleague, Jason Goldstein
Lamont Peterson will fight David Avanesyan
The undercard has a couple interesting points as well. Lamont Peterson is returning from a long layoff to fight David Avanesyan for a welterweight belt. The belt isn’t all the significant, but this is a pretty good fight, possibly even better than the main event. Peterson is a good fighter, who found himself in a series of up and down fights against top level competition from 2009-2015, before sitting the entirety of 2016 out of the ring. Peterson’s record has tough losses to Timothy Bradley, Lucas Matthysse and Danny Garcia but he also has some impressive wins over the likes of Amir Khan and gold medalist Felix Diaz. It’s nice to see a fighter like Peterson back in the ring. Avanesyan is a good, solid fighter himself. His most recent win is a 12 round decision over the faded Shane Mosley. Despite this, Avanesyan has yet to really prove himself with a defining accomplishment and he’s a bit of an unknown heading into this fight. I can’t really make a solid prediction on this fight given the variables, it could really swing a couple different ways. I can tell you that the odds put Peterson as a light favorite, about the same advantage they give Broner over Granados in the main event. This seems fairly accurate with what I know about each fighter and I personally think Peterson will take it. It should be an interesting bout, and the winner of this fight could potentially contest the winner of the Garcia Thurman unification fight happening next month on CBS.
The other fight on the card is up and coming light heavyweight prospect Marcus Browne against the slightly more battle test Thomas “Top Dog” Williams Jr. Williams has come up short in a couple of contests now, most notably against the WBC Light Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson. Both men are getting a chance to prove themselves to the world at large here. Browne is hoping to score a major boon on his way up to the top, while Williams is fighting to prove that he still belongs in contention. In truth, we already know something of Top Dog’s ceiling and while he’s a decent fighter he’s not quite elite. Based on their records, this should be a fun fight, as we’re looking at two powerful punchers battling for their careers. Unfortunately, I don’t really know enough about the fighters to accurately predict a winner. Both of them seem to be more vulnerable than their wins would suggest, but based on the records I’ll pick Browne for this one.
