By Nate Anderson: Undefeated light welterweight prospect Michael Grant (11-0-1, 1 KOs) won an impressive eight-round decision over journeyman Gary Reid (13-22-2, 8 KOs) on the undercard of David Haye vs. Monte Barrett heavyweight bout on Saturday night at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, in London. The referee’s score was 58-55 in favor of the 25 year-old Grant. The only real excitement in the fight, which was largely controlled by the bigger 5’7” Grant, was a knockdown by Reid in the 4th round when he tagged Grant with a leaping right hand to the head to put him down.
Aside from this, Grant controlled the entire fight, using his speed advantage to control the shorter Reid.
Grant fought Reid from long range in the 1st round, jabbing and pounding away at him with big right hands. Normally not much of a big hitter, Grant showed excellent power in the first round, and was able to hit Reid with some significant shots.
Reid made it easy on him, however, by lunging in frequently, leaving himself wide open for big punches from Grant who was able to easily pick him off on the way in. Reid, though, did find some success at times, catching Grant unaware with his wild attacks.
But for the most part, Reid was limited to an occasional pot shot or two in the round. Grant totally dominated the second round, hitting the 5’5” Reid with a slew of jabs from the outside and giving him problems with he would come charging forward.
At one point in the round, Grant hit Reid with an impressive triple left hook to the head, all thrown fast and hard. The third round was all Grant, showing good movement, combinations and staying away from the inside where Reid, nicknamed “The Body Snatcher” typically does his best work.
On the outside, Reid was in effect completely neutralized and almost helpless save for an occasional lunging shot. By the end of the round, Reid, who had taken a lot of punishment up till this point in the fight, had a small cut on the side of his right eye.
It wasn’t a problem, however, and he was able to fight without the danger of the fight being stopped prematurely by the referee. In the 4th round, Reid came out looking ten years younger, throwing hard right hands to the head and midsection of Grant and backing him up.
Suddenly while Grant was in the process of trying to throw a punch, Reid came flying forward and landed a huge right hand to the head of Grant, sending him to the canvas. Instead of playing it safe and trying to clinch after the knockdown, Grant, in turn, went after Reid as if he were trying to even the score and exact revenge.
For the remainder of the round, Grant pounded Reid unceasingly with combinations to the head and almost succeeded in making up for the earlier knockdown. In rounds five and six, Reid was much too slow and wild to keep up with the accurate, speedy punches from Grant, who teed off on him during these last two rounds.
Grant later said, “That [referring to his knockdown] came out of nowhere. I didn’t see that coming. That’s boxing, what can I say? I’ve been out for two years and I’m hungry for a title.”