With a great start to the year, Showtime once again brings us another exciting match up between Four division World Champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (32-2, 25 KO) and Adrian “Tigre” Granados (18-4, 2 KOs). This fight is set to take place in Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio this February 18th at 9 pm ET.

Broner is coming off a decisive win over TMT Promotion’s, Ashley Theophane, last April. He is looking to reinvent himself and show the world that he still got it. This time the win won’t come easy, facing a scrappy pressure fighter in Granados, Broner is going to have to adjust and maintain the distance. The four division World Champion hired Granados as a sparring partner back when he was preparing for his bout against, Marcos “El Chino” Maidana, in 2014.

Adrien Broner

They’ve both said in multiple interviews that the sparring sessions they had were very competitive and heated. Broner is known for having trouble with messy pressure fighters, with his only two losses being to, Marcos “El Chino” Maidana and “Showtime” Shawn Porter, fighters who aren’t the most technical but will throw wild punches and pressure you all night, it leaves the doubt that Broner will be able to maintain the distance and outbox Granados.

Recently Broner has been in the headlines for negative reasons, sentenced to 30 days in jail for showing up late to his trial, which stemmed from an alleged assault and robbery at gunpoint. Posting cryptic suicidal pictures on his Instagram account, makes you wonder if he is mentally stable for this fight. In a recent press conference alongside Floyd Mayweather, Broner assured the press that he was a way more mature Broner and very concentrated on this fight. We’ve heard this before, we just have to wait and see.

Granados is not your household name boxer, but to the hardcore fans, he definitely passes the eye test. He is coming into this fight very confident, pulling off an upset win against Don Kings last highly touted prospect, Amir Imam, he looks to join the mix with the top fighters in the division. His only losses have been close fights to undefeated fighters, so winning this fight doesn’t seem like an impossible task, considering that his fighting style is known to make Broner uncomfortable.

The 27-year-old knows that winning this fight will catapult him into the big leagues and possibly a title match against Terence Crawford, Julius Indongo or Ricky Burns. With so much to gain by beating a famous fighter like Broner, Granados knows that he needs to capitalize on this opportunity.

Will Broner be able to leave his legal and personal problems behind and focus on this fight, or will his demons take away from his concentration? Granados seems confident but he cannot underestimate a fighter like Broner, who’s shown to have power. One thing is clear, both fighters need this win to get thrown back in the mix with the top dogs in the division and possibly win a world title.