Photos: Peterson-Avanesyan, Browne-Williams - Weigh-In

By Keith Idec

The scale was the problem Friday afternoon in Cincinnati, not the fighters.

After three of the first four fighters scheduled to participate in televised bouts Saturday night in Cincinnati were overweight, the Ohio State Athletic Commission acknowledged that there was an undisclosed issue with the scale it used. Those three fighters – Adrian Granados, Lamont Peterson and David Avanesyan – were allowed to weigh in again, once the scale was replaced, without having to wait the usual hour to return.

All three made weight once they used an accurate scale.

Before the scale confusion, Adrien Broner affirmatively answered one of the biggest questions entering his fight against Granados.

The former four-division champion made weight on his first try for their 10-round welterweight fight. Broner (32-2, 24 KOs), a Cincinnati native, weighed in at 146½ pounds, just below the welterweight limit of 147. Granados weighed in at 148 pounds on his first try.

Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs), of Cicero, Illinois, stripped naked on the scale, but still weighed in at 148 on his second attempt. Once he used an accurate scale, Granados weighed in at 146½.

Questions arose regarding Broner’s ability to make weight last week, when Granados revealed that Broner’s team demanded that the weight limit for their fight, originally set for 142 pounds, be moved up to 147. Granados said he heard Broner got sick during training camp, which he cited as the reason Broner wanted to fight at a higher weight.

Showtime will televise the Broner-Granados fight as the main event of a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader from Xavier University’s Cintas Center.

Showtime’s tripleheader will open with a 10-round bout between light heavyweights Marcus Browne (18-0, 13 KOs), of Staten Island, New York, and Thomas Williams Jr. (20-2, 14 KOs), of Fort Washington, Maryland. Immediately before Broner-Granados, Russia’s Avanesyan (22-1-1, 11 KOs) will defend his WBA world welterweight title against Washington’s Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs).

Avanesyan and Peterson also were slightly overweight Friday before the scale issue was rectified. They first weighed in at 147½ pounds apiece, half-a-pound over the welterweight limit.

Once they used the accurate scale, Avanesyan weighed 147 pounds and Peterson weighed 146.6.

Browne and Williams made weight for their fight on their first attempt apiece because the scale already had been replaced by the time it was their turn. Browne and Williams each weighed 174½ pounds.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.