Imam eyes WBC super lightweight title bout
With Viktor Postol taking a breather after earning the vacant WBC super lightweight title on Oct. 3 against Lucas Matthysse, Amir Imam must go through Adrian Granados before he gets his shot at the Ukrainian as the mandatory challenger.
Imam faces Granados (16-4-2, 11 knockouts) in a 10-rounder in Quebec City on Saturday as part of the undercard for super middleweight champion James DeGale’s defense against Lucian Bute on Showtime.
“I’m ready for this fight. I’m real ready,” Imam said. “Whatever it takes to win the fight, I’ll do it.”
The 25-year-old Pompano Beach transplant, who is 18-0 with 15 KOs, won the right to challenge Postol by knocking out Fernando Angulo in the fourth round on July 18.
Stacy McKinley, Imam’s trainer and manager, said Granados won’t last five rounds against the “Young Master.”
“Right now, we are on a knockout mission,” McKinley said. “Amir has to work from behind his jab and everything else will fall into place.”
Considered the mandatory challenger for the titlist Postol (28-0,12 KOs), Imam, 25, of Albany, N.Y., isn’t looking past Granados, 26, of Cicero, Ill.
Still, Imam says he’s not looking past Granados.
“I’m focused on this fight,” said Imam, who fights under Don King. “I’m going to do what I do every time I’m in the ring — stay focused, and good things will happen.”
McKinley said when Imam is finished with Granados, that Postol won’t last eight rounds with him.
“I don’t think there is a junior welterweight that can beat Amir Imam,” McKinley said. “I feel that Amir is the next superstar in boxing.”
Coverage of the card’s preliminary bouts begins at 9 p.m. on Showtime. Along with the Imam-Granados bout, the ticket also features a 10-round heavyweight fight between Oscar Rivas (17-0, 12 KOs) and Curtis Harper (12-4, 8 KOs), of Jacksonville.