Adrian Granados Frustrated With Inactivity After Big KO of Imam

By Ben Jacobs

Following his upset win over Amir Imam in November of 2015, Adrian Granados (18-4-2, 12 KO’s) was hoping to press on and build some momentum towards a world title opportunity in the junior welterweight division.  Instead, eleven months on, he finds himself frustrated at a lack of opportunities resulting in only one fight since, that being a low key encounter off television, a win over Ariel Vásquez.

“It’s been a frustrating year, there’s been a couple of fights that have come up then fallen apart,” Granados explained to BoxingScene.com. 

“I have nothing against John Molina or his team but that was my fight versus Ruslan Provodnikov earlier this year.  I was hoping to cap off my big win over Imam with an even bigger win over Ruslan, I think the way that fight played out I would have been successful myself, but congratulations to John on that.”

Recently on social media, Granados let it be known that he wanted to fight four weight world champion Adrien Broner.

“I got tired of waiting, Broner, I was a former sparring partner of his, no disrespect but I saw him calling out Omar Figueroa and they were going back and forth, I hopped on Twitter and tried to bait them out, so I said that I’d fight Broner.  The next day I said let’s see if John Molina or Antonio Orozco want to get it on.  I don’t have a big following on Twitter but maybe I’ll get a couple more followers on there now.”

Granados is not the only boxer who has been inactive this year.  There does seem to be a wider issue with fighters for one reason or another not competing on a regular basis, particularly in the United States.  For example, Danny García has only fought once in 2016, his January bout with Robert Guerrero. 

“I noticed that too, Danny is good financially so it’s not so bad for him but for guys like me who are up and coming, I’m starving over here, I want in on the party, I want to be a big name like García, Broner or Keith Thurman.  I’m staying in the gym, ready to go.  There are a couple of things being worked out but I can’t disclose anything right now.  It sounds like we will get something before the year is up, it’s just a matter of who, when and where.

“I called out John Molina because he’s number two and I’m number three (WBA rankings).  Relikh is getting his shot so maybe we can battle it out for the next mandatory.  I’ll be watching Burns versus Relikh closely.

“All I’m asking for is an opportunity, a lot of people saw how genuine my celebration was after the Imam fight but then this year has been a drag.  It’s ok, I’m staying positive, I put it in God’s hands, I’ll stay ready and be patient.”

Adrian feels that for some fighters in the division the risk of taking on a challenge such as himself is simply not worth it for the money on offer.

“Money wise they want their good paydays.  I’m in a tough division with a lot of big names.  Unless you’re a die hard boxing fan you don’t know who I am, and I understand that.  They think, why should I give this guy a chance?  No fighter thinks they will lose but they are realistic and they may think, what if I lose to this guy? 

“I’m high risk, low reward.”