Friday, March 29, 2024  |

News

Aficianado

Adrian Granados knows upset win over Shawn Porter would change his career

Fighters Network
03
Nov

Adrian Granados has never been the A-side in a notable bout.

That won’t change Saturday when he faces Shawn Porter in Brooklyn on Showtime. Granados earned the high-profile fight with a debated loss to Adrien Broner in February, and the Chicago native is in tough again.

It’s the way it’s always been for the hard-charging brawler. He didn’t have the deep amateur career, and he wasn’t pursued by major promoters when he turned pro. That meant he wasn’t matched carefully on the way up the way highly coveted fighters are, with easy fight after easy fight in an attempt to pad their record.

Granados sports a shabby record of 18-5-2 with 12 knockouts, but ever since an upset victory over Amir Imam in 2015, he’s been seen in a different light. The performance against Broner only solidified that he’s a solid fighter who isn’t a tough out for anyone. And if he can pull off one more upset Saturday, he’ll have earned his first title shot. After all, the bout against Porter is a WBC eliminator.



“It means a lot to me to be in this fight on this stage,” said Granados, 28. “I definitely need to win and bounce back from my loss to Broner and show that I have a lot more to give to this sport. I’m far from down and out, I just showed up to the party and I’m ready to leave my mark.”

Granados admitted he was surprised to get the call to fight Porter, but he’s ready, even if it is a second consecutive fight at 147 pounds. Granados is a natural junior welterweight, and his bout against Broner was scheduled to be contested at 140 pounds. But a month out, Broner was having difficulty making weight and the fight was changed to one fought at the welterweight limit.

Granado said it was easier to put on weight during this camp since he knew it was 147 from the start. And while he realizes Porter is the far bigger man, one who once fought above 160 pounds in the amateurs, he believes he can score the upset and put him squarely in the mix in boxing’s best division, even if such a scenario was a pipe dream even one year ago.

“This is a great opportunity to prove that I’m able to fight with anyone in this sport,” he said. “I can compete on the highest level and I’m going to show everyone that I’m a force on fight night.”

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS