By Reynaldo "Papi Chulo" Sanchez
Last month, junior welterweight contender Amir Imam (18-1, 15KOs) was within touching distance of a world title shot. Some viewed him as one of the more exciting rising stars in the lower weight divisions.
Imam was the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Viktor Postol. The World Boxing Council issued an ordered which allowed Postol to have a voluntary defense before making his mandatory with Imam.
Promoter Don King, who handles Imam, wanted his fighter to stay busy and booked what everyone felt was a safe interim-fight on November 28th against Adrian Granados (17-4-2, 12KOs). The fight took place in Canada and was part of the James DeGale-Lucian Bute undercard.
The stay-busy fight did not go as planned.
Early on, Imam had control of the fight and was hurting Granados with big punches. As the fight continued, Granados kept coming and coming until Imam wore down. The fight was eventually stopped in the eight round. Granados was battering Imam against the ropes and the referee stepped in.
According to Imam's trainer Stacey McKinley, the boxer's promoter is now pursuing a rematch with Granados for early 2016. Imam wants to make things right and he's hoping to get a rematch sooner than later.