CINCINNATI - Adrien Broner and Adrian Granados battled in a close, back-and-forth main event Saturday on SHOWTIME, with the four-division world champion Broner eking out a split decision victory from Cintas Center at Xavier University in his hometown of Cincinnati.

The fight, which was scored 97-93 Broner, 97-93 Granados and 96-94 Broner, was a tale of accuracy vs activity. Granados (18-5-2, 11 KOs), a native of Chicago, was the busier fighter, throwing 683 compared to 403 total punches for Broner (33-2, 24 KOs). 

But "The Problem" connected at a 41 percent rate, compared to just 21 percent for his opponent.

The fight was fought largely on the inside, which Broner said was because he hurt his left hand in the first round and couldn't work off his jab.  Regardless of the reason, Granados was able to make the fight into the rough affair he had predicted.

"I knew that Adrian Granados was going to come tough," Broner said.  "At the end of the day, I was beating him up. This was an easy one for me.  I feel good.

"Adrian Granados is a world class fighter, a lot of guys duck him but I wanted to fight him because that's what I'm about.  Inside this ring it's business. Granados is a great friend of mine. It's nothing personal.

"I'm taking my career more seriously and being more positive.  I want to apologize to everyone who looks up to me and has seen the foolish things I've done.  I'm ready to be a better role model, a better father figure and a better star for everyone. "