A look at the Adrien Broner vs Granados undercard.
On an impressive show in Cincinnati, headlined by Adrien Broner’s move back to Welterweight, is an undercard including a clash between Russia and America for a world title strap and a contest between two young Light Heavyweights, both with a lot to prove.
David Avanesyan 22-1-1(11KO’s) makes the first defence of the WBA ‘world’ Welterweight title he was awarded after outpointing Shane Mosley last May.
It is the Russian’s first contest since then, and he faces an opponent who had an uplifting 2015, but an inactive 2016.
Lamont Peterson 34-3-1(17KO’s) was unlucky to lose out to Danny Garcia early in 2015, and was then pushed close himself in victory over the unheralded Felix Diaz.
Now the former Light Welterweight champion is looking to convince the boxing public that he can make the same sort of splash at 147lbs that he did 7lbs below.
In his late twenties, Avanesyan isn’t exactly a new prospect on the block, he has in fact been lying in mediocrity for some time, and while victory over a faded Mosley showed us very little, this contest with a still capable Peterson will tell us a lot more of his talents.
Both are quality operators from centre ring, but the feeling is that Avanesyan will be the one to push Peterson back and not visa versa.
David will have his better moments early, but Peterson will string together some nice boxing on the reverse, ultimately sneaking a majority decision to take home the Welterweight crown.
The other main fight on the Broner vs Granados undercard
Thomas Williams Jr 20-2(14KO’s) and Marcus Browne 18-0(13KO’s) are likely to serve up a sizzling contest.
Both have a few highlighted moments of vulnerability on their records, but it is Williams Jr by far mixing with the better company.
Williams Jr’s career was resumed by a stunning knockout of Edwin Rodriquez in a firefight, before going toe-to-toe with Adonis Stevenson for the WBC Light Heavyweight championship – ultimately going down in the 4th.
As for Browne, he is a talented Olympian that has shown a lot of promise on the way up.
With potential to make a move in the division, post-Ward, Kovalev, Stevenson, Browne still has a lot to learn, and cannot afford to make previous mistakes against the punching power of Williams.
Browne was lucky last time out to come away with victory over Radjvoje Kalajdzic, but may not be so fortunate this time around.
A hard fight to call, with one option being that Browne sticks to his boxing, comes through the rough patches where his jab loses effect to win on points.
While the other scenario points to Browne being dragged into a deep-water contest, with Williams Jr prevailing on points or scoring a late stoppage.
The pick is with the former, basing this on Browne learning from his mistakes, edging out Williams in a quality contest.
