Shortly after Tyson Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko, Amir Imam tasted defeat for the first time in Quebec, Canada. And it wasn’t via a close decision, either. Imam (18-1, 15 KO), one of the sport’s top prospects, was supposed to make quick and easy work of unheralded Adrian Granados, but quickly found himself in a life-and-death war.
It looked to be all over in just the 1st round when Imam floored Granados with a lightning right hand. But the underdog picked himself up and sensationally forced Imam into a dogfight. Granados (17-4-2, 12 KO) poured on the pressure, robbed Imam of breathing space, and let a barrage of punches fly.
Imam held his own to begin with, but his crisper, cleaner counter shots couldn’t remove the freight train in front of him. Granados may not be a one-punch knockout type, but he proved just how devastating repeated blows to the skull can be, eventually stopping a dazed, wilting Imam on the ropes in the 8th round.
Catch Showtime’s Imam vs Granados 8th Round Highlights:
Let’s give Granados the credit he deserves. What a fight, what a performance, and what a fighter. But I know the question that’s probably on a lot of fan’s minds’ right now: why did Imam crumble against this relatively unknown fighter?
There’s no simple answer to that question. I think it all comes down to this unforeseeable fact: no one was expecting that kind of beast to emerge in Granados, certainly not me, and probably not even Imam himself. That said, I think Imam could have removed himself from such a beating by choosing not to partake in a stand-and-trade war with Granados.
Imam is a great outside fighter, and going toe-to-toe put him in unnecessary peril, and ultimately, led to a career-crushing defeat. Imam also discarded significant head movement, causing him to eat an unprecedented number of shots while giving Granados the confidence to tee off time and again.
In a rematch perhaps things would be different. Or perhaps not? Maybe Granados’ Cinderella story is about to begin? Whatever the future holds, something tells me Imam won’t be going near this guy for some time – perhaps not at all. Another question: Did Don King (Imam’s promoter) make a huge blunder by making the Granados fight too early?
My feeling is no. As I’ve already said, I don’t think anyone was counting on Granados doing much in this fight, let alone beating up and stopping Imam. It was just one of those rare occasions in boxing where the pre-fight script got torn, burned and buried. Everyone underestimated Granados, Imam got dragged into a brawl, and Imam came up second.
Upsets happen in boxing, and they will continue to as long as B-side fighters have two hands.
Was this the biggest upset of the weekend, fight fans? – the other of course being Klitschko vs Fury. And what’s your take on Imam vs Granados?
