Adrien Broner looking to get boxing career back on track

The flamboyant Adrien “The Problem” Broner claims he’s a changed man.

Broner, a former four-division champion, said he’s done with his immature ways and solely focused on his boxing career.

It’s not the first time Broner (32-2, 24 knockouts) has made those statements, and he will get an opportunity to prove doubters wrong when he meets Adrian Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs) in a Showtime main event Saturday in Cincinnati.

“I know everyone is used to me coming up here and being boastful,” Broner said Thursday. “That’s not me anymore. I have a lot of respect for Adrian Granados, and he’s a great fighter.

“I’m a businessman that can fight. That’s what I am nowadays. I’m not a (expletive) talker anymore. I’m a businessman that knows how to fight.”

Broner has said all the right things this week and had no problem making the 147-pound weight limit Friday. He’s a minus-360 favorite over Granados, a plus-280 underdog, according to William Hill.

The 27-year-old Broner ended last year by getting into an altercation with a waitress at a Las Vegas nightclub and posting suicide threats on social media.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. rekindled his relationship with Broner after seeing the suicide threats and decided to take him under his wing again.

“I’ve had an amazing training camp, and I feel great right now,” Broner said. “I’m very thankful to my team who has helped me get to this point in my career.”

BRONER TAKES OVER TWITTER

The Broner-Granados bout will be the first live-stream boxing event on Twitter.

Boxing fans can begin streaming the Showtime tripleheader at 6 p.m. Saturday. The first fight will be at light heavyweight between Marcus Browne and Thomas Williams Jr. The co-main event features welterweight interim champion David Avanesyan versus Lamont Peterson.

“The sport of boxing is on the rise again, and the best and most meaningful fights are on Showtime,” said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president of Showtime Sports. “With this unprecedented live stream on Twitter, we have the opportunity to reach boxing fans and casual observers everywhere with the industry-leading boxing programming we deliver to our subscribers on a consistent basis.”

GOLDEN BOY LAS VEGAS 

Golden Boy Promotions will be busy in Las Vegas this spring.

The Los Angeles-based company announced this week that its second installment of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN will be April 1 at the Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Undefeated junior welterweights Antonio Orozco and KeAndre Gibson will meet in the main event. The card will be televised live at 6 p.m. on ESPN Deportes and on tape delay at 8 on ESPN 2.

The series is expected to return to Las Vegas on May 5, the day before Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. meet at T-Mobile Arena.

CANELO-CHAVEZ JR. PRESALE 

Fans waiting to get tickets to the Mexican showdown can get a head start this weekend.

Presale for Alvarez-Chavez Jr. starts at 10 a.m. Saturday on Axs.com with the promo code “Knockout.” The early sale will end at 9 a.m. Monday.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.