Robert Brant (born October 2, 1990) is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) middleweight title from 2018 to 2019.

Rob Brant
Born (1990-10-02) October 2, 1990 (age 34)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesBravo
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height6 ft 0+12 in (184 cm)
Reach70+12 in (179 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights29
Wins26
Wins by KO18
Losses3

Amateur career

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Brant was a member of the US National boxing team.[1] 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 [1]
  • 2009 Upper Midwest Golden Gloves - Champion [2]
  • 2009 U.S. National Championships - Champion [1]
  • 2010 Upper Midwest Golden Gloves - Champion [3]
  • 2010 National Golden Gloves - Champion [4]

Professional career

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Early career

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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."[5] 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.[6] The win gave Brant a 19–0 record with 12 wins by knockout.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] Given the opportunity to compete in the tournament Brant stated he would "be proud to have the opportunity to represent the United States".[10]

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.[11] In his following fight, Brant bounced back with a first-round knockout win against Colby Courter.[12]

WBA (Regular) middleweight champion

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Brant vs. Murata

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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.[13][14]

Brant vs. Baysangurov

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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.[15]

Brant vs. Murata II

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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.[16]

Career from 2020

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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.[17]

Brant faced undefeated Janibek Alimkhanuly as the co-featured bout to Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Masayoshi Nakatani on June 26, 2021, in Paradise, Nevada.[18] He was knocked down in the sixth round, en route to an eighth-round corner retirement defeat.[19]

Professional boxing record

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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.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "USA Boxing - Features, Events, Results | Team USA". usaboxing.org. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "Robert Brant - Amateur Boxing Record". boxing-scoop.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "Live From Ringside". livefromringside.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Scorecard: Danny Garcia wins, sets up another big fight". ESPN. January 25, 2016. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  6. ^ "2016 ESPN.com KO of the year". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  7. ^ "BoxRec - Rob Brant". boxrec.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  8. ^ "2016 ESPN.com prospect of the year -- Erickson Lubin -- Boxing". Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  9. ^ "Avni Yildirim, Rob Brant, Mike Perez Join World Boxing Super Series". July 6, 2017.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Juergen Braehmer Outboxes Rob Brant, Callum Smith is Next". BoxingScene.com. October 27, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  12. ^ "Rob Brant Bounces Back With First Round Knockout Win". BoxingScene.com. March 13, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  13. ^ "Murata vs Brant - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  14. ^ "Rob Brant Shocks Ryota Murata For Title, Derails Golovkin Plans". BoxingScene.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ Idec, Keith (August 22, 2020). "Rob Brant Stops Vitaliy Kopylenko After Five One-Sided Rounds". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "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.
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Sporting positions
Amateur boxing titles
Previous:
Dorian Anthony
U.S. light heavyweight champion
2009
Next:
Jeffrey Spencer
Golden Gloves
light heavyweight champion

2010
Next:
Caleb Plant
World boxing titles
Preceded by WBA middleweight champion
Regular Title

October 20, 2018 – July 12, 2019
Next:
Ryōta Murata