Just when a fighter from St. Paul, MN experiences some success on TV, the audience is told he is from Dallas, TX (where he currently trains). Flyover land can’t win, but at least Rob can, and impressively. Going into the main event Friday night at the Casino Del Sol, Tucson, AZ, Rob was the favorite, but few expected him to win by a knockout.
Brant was described as more of a boxer with a good jab. He was favored because he had more experience. In the amateurs, he was a national champ (multiple x’s), and is undefeated as a pro (19-0-0 12KO), Still, Decarlo “3mendo” Perez (15-4-1 5KO) was expected to be one of Rob toughest tests, because he performed well against tougher competition.
Last October, Rob headlined a ShoBox Card in a main event against Louis Rose (15-3-1 5KO). Rob looked good, but so did Rose. It was an exciting, evenly matched fight, but Brant did a little more, and did rock Rose a few times. It was enough to come away with a MD.
Against Perez, it took him about a minute to get his engine revved up. During that minute, it looked like Perez was going to effectively put his game plan into play. He popped Brant with a few shots and seemed to be in control. All that quickly changed, and Rob started landing his jab. With that success, he followed with sharp three and four punch combinations. Perez wasn’t the technician like Rose, and as a result Perez was more stationary and easier to hit.
Rob has good hand speed, and can rip off multiple punch combinations. Oft times a fighter blocks or slips the first couple, but the third and fourth get through. That was happening to Perez. When the orthodox style Rob threw the four punch combination, he would finish with a straight left. He manages to make a more dangerous punch than a hook, because it will still catch the pulling or backing away fighter.
In the fourth round, Rob rocked Perez with another combination, which opened up Perez’ defense and left his chin exposed. Rob fired off a picture perfect right hand that landed right on the jaw. Perez was propelled into the ropes. His upper body was outside of the ring for a second or so, and then the rope sling shotted him back into the ring and deposited him on the canvas. No need to count. The official ending came at .039 of the fourth round. Brant is now the WBA-NABA middleweight title holder.
Minnesota needed that after seeing other hopefuls come up short. Caleb Truax was stopped by Danny Jacobs. Joey Abell was stopped again. Abel has earned the reputation of having a glass jaw, because he’s been KO’d 7 x’s. However, to be more accurate, he doesn’t necessarily have a weak chin, but he does have a poor defense. When you’re repeatedly hit by a heavyweight, chances are you’re going to lose consciousness. That is Joey’s problem. He gets hit too much. He needs to improve his defense. Then his confidence will return. It’s always a good feeling when you’re not eating leather.
Another Minnesota bright spot is Jamal “Shango” James (19-0-0 9KO). He and Javier Molina (17-1-0 8KO) headlined a televised main event at Club Nokia, Los Angeles, Calif. Jamal used his height and reach advantage well. On those occasions when Molina did trap him on the ropes, Jamas proved to still be elusive. He displayed good head movement with good counters. the scoring was pretty one-sided even though the bout was exciting.
Both Brant and James have improved their positions considerably, especially Brant with his highlight reel type of knockout against Perez. Shobox and ShowTime are very please with them, and undoubtedly will reward then with another bigger venue and better payday. Meanwhile, Minnesota can puff up its chest for a while, and continue to support these two standouts.
