By Keith Idec
Adrien Broner’s next fight has been moved from February 11 to February 18.
Broner announced the new date Monday night in a post to the Instagram account registered to his company, About Billions Promotions.
Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) was supposed to fight Adrian Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs) on February 11, but the show was moved back a week presumably so the card can be held at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Broner’s hometown.
The East Coast Hockey League’s Cincinnati Cyclones, a minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers, have a home game scheduled for the night of February 11, against the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Komets. The venue was available for February 18.
Showtime still is expected to televise a show that features the Broner-Granados fight in the main event.
The February 18 card also is expected to include scheduled 12-rounders between WBC world featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs), of Capitol Heights, Maryland, and Colombia’s Oscar Escandon (25-2, 17 KOs), and WBC world super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo (28-0, 13 KOs), of Houston, and Dallas’ Charles Hatley (26-1-1, 18 KOs).
The 27-year-old Broner, a former four-division champion, has headlined four cards at U.S. Bank Arena since November 2011. He hasn’t fought since he stopped England’s Ashley Theophane (40-7-1, 11 KOs) in the ninth round of their April 1 fight in Washington, D.C.
Broner forfeited the WBA world super lightweight title the day before he defeated Theophane at D.C. Armory because Broner weighed in half-a-pound over the 140-pound limit for that championship match.
Granados, also 27, wants to pull off another upset. The Cicero, Illinois, resident stopped then-unbeaten Amir Imam (19-1, 16 KOs), of Albany, New York, in the ninth round of their November 2015 fight in Quebec City, Canada.
Granados has fought just once since he upset the hard-hitting Imam. He won a stay-busy bout July 16, when he defeated Nicaragua’s Ariel Vasquez (12-16-2, 8 KOs, 1 NC) by unanimous decision in an eight-rounder in Phoenix.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.