Adrian Granados survived a first-round knockdown to shock undefeated super lightweight prospect Amir Imam in the opening bout of SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME with an eighth round TKO (2:34).
It was a crushing defeat for Imam, who entered the fight as the No. 1 mandatory challenger to WBC Super Lightweight World Champion Viktor Postol.
Imam looked like he was going to finish the fight early after a nice left-right combo floored the Chicago native. But after escaping the first, Granados dictated the tempo of the fight, worked the inside and prevented Imam – considered one of boxing’s most talented young contenders – from establishing his jab. With Imam unable to keep the fight at a distance, Granados picked apart the Don King-promoted fighter. After seven rounds of punishment and Iman gasping for air against the ropes Granados finished his opponent with a series of devastating combo shots.
An elated Granados (15-3-2, 10 KOs), who has losses to fighters with a combined record of 49-0, pleaded his case to become the mandatory challenger.
“I believe I should be the mandatory challenger,” Granados said. “He was in line and I stopped him. What does that mean? Come on. I was the underdog, but I just came to take it. I came to take it.
“It feels great. Once I had him wobbled I was like, ‘you’ve got to get him now. This time you’re not taking it from me.’ It was a flash knockdown. He caught with the right hand, but I was alright. I just popped right up and I knew he was going to try and finish me. We got out of it and went right back to work.”
Despite the demoralizing loss, Imam (18-1, 15 KOs) doesn’t regret taking a fight that will likely knock him out of title contention.
“I know people might say I shouldn’t have taken this fight, but I needed this fight in between as a tune-up for my next fight because I didn’t want to wait for the six to eight months for the world title shot.
“The key to the fight was my jab, I just didn’t use it enough,” Imam said. “But that’s the way it goes and I’m going to definitely come back stronger. I wasn’t thinking anything after that first-round knockdown. I’ve done that many times and didn’t think the fight was over. I wasn’t surprised at all by the way he came out. I know how he fights. He’s a good fighter and that’s all there is to it.”
In the opening bout of SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME, undefeated heavyweight prospect Oscar Rivas (18-0, 13 KOs) knocked out veteran Joey Abell (31-9, 29 KOs) at :46 of the second round.
Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will re-air on Monday, Nov. 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME while the SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME will re-air on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Both telecasts will be available On Demand beginning this Sunday.
Mauro Ranallo called the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING action with Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and former world champion Paulie Malignaggi commentating and Jim Gray reporting. In Spanish, Alejandro Luna called the blow-by-blow with former world champion Raul Marquez serving as color commentator. Barry Tompkins called the SHOWTIME EXTREME action from ringside with boxing historian Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst.
The executive producer of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.
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