Rob Brant
Robert Brant (born October 2, 1990) is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) middleweight title from 2018 to 2019. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's sixth best active middleweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board,[1] eleventh by BoxRec[2] and eighth by The Ring magazine.[3]
Rob Brant | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Nickname(s) | Bravo |
Weight(s) | |
Height | 6 ft 0+1⁄2 in (184 cm) |
Reach | 70+1⁄2 in (179 cm) |
Nationality | American |
Born | Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | October 2, 1990
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 29 |
Wins | 26 |
Wins by KO | 18 |
Losses | 3 |
Amateur career
Brant was a member of the US National boxing team.[4] He began boxing as an amateur in 2007 and by 2009, remarkably, had already won a national championship. In his amateur career, Brant tallied the following notable finishes:
- 2007 Ringside Championships - Champion
- 2008 Platinum Gloves (Orlando) - Runner-Up
- 2008 Under 19 National Championships - Champion [4]
- 2009 Upper Midwest Golden Gloves - Champion [5]
- 2009 U.S. National Championships - Champion [4]
- 2010 Upper Midwest Golden Gloves - Champion [6]
- 2010 National Golden Gloves - Champion [7]
Professional career
Early career
Brant turned professional in June 2012, beginning his career with a second-round technical knockout (TKO) win over journeyman Cheyenne Ziegler. By October 2015, Brant's record was 17-0 when he first headlined a nationally televised card, defeating Louis Rose of Lynwood, California, then 13-2-1, by majority decision in a closely contested ten-round bout. On January 22, 2016, Brant fought in the main event of a Showtime televised card, defeating 15-3-1 Decarlo Perez by knockout in round four. The result was widely publicized, with commentators praising Brant as "outstanding," "a skilled boxer," and displaying "crushing power." Dan Rafael of ESPN praised Brant for his "titanic right hand...that annihilated Perez."[8] Brant's knockout of Perez was also featured on that evening's edition of SportsCenter's Top 10, and was later listed as number six on ESPN's 2016 Knockouts of the Year.[9] The win gave Brant a 19–0 record with 12 wins by knockout.[10] On April 15, 2016, Brant improved to 20-0 with a knockout of Delray Raines in a fight that lasted just 55 seconds. Brant earned another early-round knockout on August 5, making quick work of Chris Fitzpatrick. ESPN named Brant one of its Top 20 Rising Stars of professional boxing in an article published on December 29, 2016.[11]
On July 6, it was announced that Brant would move from middleweight to super middleweight to take part in the World Boxing Super Series, Brant being the only American boxer to take part in the tournament.[12] Given the opportunity to compete in the tournament Brant stated he would "be proud to have the opportunity to represent the United States".[13]
On 27 October 2017, Brant faced former world champion Juergen Braehmer as a part of the WBSS super middleweight quarterfinal. Braehmer boxed well and kept a steady pace throughout the fight, landing the better punches and making Brant miss. Brant didn't do much in the final round to try and change the outcome of the fight. The judges saw it as a unanimous decision win in favor of Braehmer, 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112.[14] In his following fight, Brant bounced back with a first-round knockout win against Colby Courter.[15]
Brant vs. Murata
After his comeback win, Brant challenged Ryota Murata for the WBA (Regular) middleweight title at Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 20, 2018. Brant, at that time ranked #3 by the WBA and #11 by the IBF, was considered the underdog going into the fight. Brant proved the experts wrong by outboxing and outworking Murata on the way to a unanimous decision win, 118-110, 119-109 and 119-109.[16][17]
Brant vs. Baysangurov
His first title defense came against Khasan Baysangurov on February 15, 2019. Brant managed to trop Baysangurov once, en route to an eleventh-round TKO victory, to retain his WBA (Regular) middleweight title.[18]
Brant vs. Murata II
On July 12, 2019, Brant had his second title defense against Ryota Murata in a much anticipated rematch, this time in Murata's home country, at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan. The rematch went completely differently from the first fight, this time Murata being the dominant fighter, dropping and stopping Brant in the second round to reclaim his WBA (Regular) belt.[19]
Career from 2020
After a layoff of more than a year, Brant returned to the ring on August 22, 2020, where he was victorious against Vitalii Kopylenko via fifth-round corner retirement.[20]
Brant faced undefeated Janibek Alimkhanuly as the co-featured bout to Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Masayoshi Nakatani on June 26, 2021, in Paradise, Nevada.[21] He was knocked down in the sixth round, en route to an eighth-round corner retirement defeat.[22]
Professional boxing record
29 fights | 26 wins | 3 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 18 | 2 |
By decision | 8 | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
29 | Loss | 26–3 | Janibek Alimkhanuly | RTD | 8 (10), 3:00 | Jun 26, 2021 | Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | |
28 | Win | 26–2 | Vitalii Kopylenko | RTD | 5 (10), 3:00 | Aug 22, 2020 | MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | |
27 | Loss | 25–2 | Ryōta Murata | TKO | 2 (12), 2:34 | Jul 12, 2019 | Edion Arena, Osaka, Japan | Lost WBA (Regular) middleweight title |
26 | Win | 25–1 | Khasan Baysangurov | TKO | 11 (12), 1:42 | Feb 15, 2019 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | Retained WBA (Regular) middleweight title |
25 | Win | 24–1 | Ryōta Murata | UD | 12 | Oct 20, 2018 | Park Theater, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | Won WBA (Regular) middleweight title |
24 | Win | 23–1 | Colby Courter | KO | 1 (8) | Mar 18, 2018 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
23 | Loss | 22–1 | Jürgen Brähmer | UD | 12 | Oct 27, 2017 | Sport- und Kongresshalle, Schwerin, Germany | World Boxing Super Series: super middleweight quarter-final |
22 | Win | 22–0 | Alexis Hloros | TKO | 1 (10), 2:37 | Jan 20, 2017 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | Retained WBA-NABA middleweight title |
21 | Win | 21–0 | Chris Fitzpatrick | KO | 3 (10), 1:18 | Aug 5, 2016 | Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California, U.S. | |
20 | Win | 20–0 | Delray Raines | KO | 1 (10), 0:55 | Apr 15, 2016 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | Retained WBA-NABA middleweight title |
19 | Win | 19–0 | Decarlo Perez | KO | 4 (10), 0:39 | Jan 22, 2016 | Casino Del Sol, Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | Won vacant WBA-NABA middleweight title |
18 | Win | 18–0 | Louis Rose | MD | 10 | Oct 23, 2015 | Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | Won vacant WBC Continental Americas middleweight title |
17 | Win | 17–0 | Lekan Byfield | KO | 3 (8) | Aug 28, 2015 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
16 | Win | 16–0 | Ernesto Berrospe | TKO | 3 (6), 0:33 | Jul 17, 2015 | Sands Event Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
15 | Win | 15–0 | Dionisio Miranda | KO | 2 (8), 2:40 | Apr 17, 2015 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
14 | Win | 14–0 | Ryan Davis | TKO | 1 (8) | Feb 6, 2015 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
13 | Win | 13–0 | Eric Draper | TKO | 1 (8), 1:30 | Nov 21, 2014 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
12 | Win | 12–0 | Marcus Upshaw | UD | 8 | Aug 22, 2014 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
11 | Win | 11–0 | Mickey Scarborough | TKO | 1 (6), 2:17 | Jun 13, 2014 | Muse Event Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | |
10 | Win | 10–0 | Demetrius Walker | UD | 6 | Mar 28, 2014 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
9 | Win | 9–0 | Tyler Hultin | TKO | 2 (6), 1:41 | Jan 24, 2014 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
8 | Win | 8–0 | Damien Hill | TKO | 3 (5), 1:08 | Aug 16, 2013 | Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S. | |
7 | Win | 7–0 | Eric Marriott | UD | 6 | Apr 13, 2013 | Wessman Arena, Superior, Wisconsin, U.S. | |
6 | Win | 6–0 | Keith Collins | UD | 6 | Feb 9, 2013 | Crown Plaza Hotel, Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | |
5 | Win | 5–0 | Romon Barber | UD | 6 | Jan 5, 2013 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | |
4 | Win | 4–0 | Ryan Soft | KO | 1 (4), 2:53 | Oct 27, 2012 | Canterbury Park, Shakopee, Minnesota, U.S. | |
3 | Win | 3–0 | Eli Smith | TKO | 1 (4), 1:22 | Sep 15, 2012 | Wessman Arena, Superior, Wisconsin, U.S. | |
2 | Win | 2–0 | Brian Geraghty | UD | 4 | Aug 25, 2012 | Crown Plaza Hotel, Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | |
1 | Win | 1–0 | Cheyenne Ziegler | KO | 2 (4), 0:53 | Jun 16, 2012 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
References
- "RANKINGS | Transnational Boxing Rankings Board". TBRB. Archived from the original on December 6, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- "BoxRec: Ratings". boxrec.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- "Middleweight ratings". The Ring. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- "USA Boxing - Features, Events, Results | Team USA". usaboxing.org. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "Robert Brant - Amateur Boxing Record". boxing-scoop.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "Live From Ringside". livefromringside.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "Robert Brant Wins National Golden Gloves | The Fistic Mystic". fisticmystic.wordpress.com. May 9, 2010. Archived from the original on November 18, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "Scorecard: Danny Garcia wins, sets up another big fight". espn.go.com. January 25, 2016. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "2016 ESPN.com KO of the year". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
- "BoxRec - Rob Brant". boxrec.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "2016 ESPN.com prospect of the year -- Erickson Lubin -- Boxing". Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
- "Avni Yildirim, Rob Brant, Mike Perez Join World Boxing Super Series". July 6, 2017.
- Robert "Bravo" Brant [@robertbrantusa] (July 6, 2017). "I am proud to have the opportunity to represent the United States in the @WBSuperSeries and fight against some of the best in the world 🇺🇸🇺🇸" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Juergen Braehmer Outboxes Rob Brant, Callum Smith is Next". BoxingScene.com. October 27, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- "Rob Brant Bounces Back With First Round Knockout Win". BoxingScene.com. March 13, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- "Murata vs Brant - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- "Rob Brant Shocks Ryota Murata For Title, Derails Golovkin Plans". BoxingScene.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- "Rob Brant Drops, Stops Khasan Baysangurov in Eleventh". BoxingScene.com. February 15, 2019. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- "Murata Batters Brant In Two, Reclaims Secondary 160-Pound Title". BoxingScene.com. July 12, 2019. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- Idec, Keith (August 22, 2020). "Rob Brant Stops Vitaliy Kopylenko After Five One-Sided Rounds". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
- Stumberg, Patrick L. (May 27, 2021). "Rob Brant vs. Janibek Alimkhanuly officially joins Lomachenko-Nakatani on June 26th". Bad Left Hook. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
- "Janibek Alimkhanuly handles Rob Brant with ease on Loma card". The Ring. June 26, 2021. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
External links
- Boxing record for Rob Brant from BoxRec (registration required)
- Official website
- Rob Brant - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live