By Eric Thomas: WBA World middleweight champion Rob Brant (25-1, 17 KOs) used his high work rate and excellent technical skills to defeat the young 21-year-old challenge Khasan Baysangurov (17-1, 7 KOs) by an 11th round knockout on Friday night in his maiden title defense on ESPN at the Grand Casino Hinckley in Hinckley, Minnesota.
(Photo Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)
Brant busted up Baysangurov’s nose early on, and then worked on his eyes. By the 11th round, Baysangurov looked pretty beaten up.
The fight could have been stopped a lot earlier than the 11th, as Brant was battering the over-matched Baysangurov the entire fight. It’s understandable why the the Russian fighter’s corner didn’t want to stop it. The fight was a championship match, so Baysangurov stayed in there hoping to catch Brant with something. The lack of power made that problematic for Baysangurov. He was outgunned by Brant in the power, speed and work rate department.
Brant, 28, battered the weak-punching inexperienced Baysangurov from start to finish in a fight that was embarrassingly one-sided to the point where you had to wonder what the Top Rank match-makers were doing in putting this fight together in the first place. Brant flurried on Baysangurov and was hitting him at will in the 11th round with body shots. Baysangurov went down under a hail of fire from Brant. Baysangurov got back and was met with more heavy shots from Brant, which led to referee Mark Nelson stepping in and stopping the contest. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:42 of round 11.
Earlier in the fight, Brant knocked Baysangurov down in the second round with a right hand to the head.
This was not the fight that some boxing fans had hoped it would be. Baysangurov lacked the speed, power, defensive skills or the work rate to keep up with Brant, who was having an easy time battering him at will. This was a much easier fight for Brant in beating the young 21-year-old Baysangurov than his previous fight against WBA World middleweight champion Ryota Murata last October. Brant threw over 1,200 punches in beating Ryota. Tonight, Brant threw a massive amount of shots as well, because he was able to do that due to the lack of power from Baysangurov.
“There are fights to be made. We just have to keep pushing forward. Canelo Alvarez is recognized by many as the champion at middleweight, and I’d love a fight with him down the road,” Brant said after the fight.
Brant isn’t going to get talented middleweights like Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin to fight him if all he’s going to do is fight over-matched guys like the weak opponent that he had tonight in Baysangurov. This was an embarrassingly bad opponent that his handlers picked out for him. Yeah, Brant won the fight, but look what he was matched against. The 21-year-old Baysangurov didn’t belong inside the same ring with any world champion tonight. He looked like a guy that was out of his class, which arguably should be bottom 50 rather than the #8 ranking the World Boxing Association gave to him. It would be nice to see Brant fight the likes of Maciej Sulecki, Esquiva Falcao, Matt Korobov, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Billy Joe Saunders and Gabriel Rosado. Those guys would give Brant some rounds, and a good run for his money. It’s unclear whether Brant could beat those type of fighters, but at least he would have a chance to prove himself worthy of a fight against Canelo and GGG. Right now, Brant isn’t getting anywhere by fighting fringe level fighters like Baysangurov. The win over Murata was a good one for Brant, but tonight’s fight was a huge step down in class. He needs to at least get back up to the level where Murata was at. Top Rank is hesitant to put Brant in with any of the above mentioned fighters on this writer’s list of options, then they should at least put him back in with Murata for a rematch. It would good to see if Brant can beat Murata a second time if he was interest in making that fight.
“{Baysangurov} had a good jab,” Brant said. “I started a little sloppy, and my trainer (Eddie Mustafa Muhammad) told me in the corner to relax. I waited for the opportunity to come, and it came in the 11th round.”
The jab of Baysangurov had no effect on Brant, who was walked pat those shots to rain massive amounts of punches on him one after another. You have give Brant credit for having a great engine. He just never got tired tonight. If this was an old fashioned 15 round fight, Brant easily would have gone that distance and still looked fresh at the end.
Joshua Greer Jr. vs. Giovanni Escaner – RESULTS
Bantamweight Joshua Greer Jr. (20-1-1, 12 KOs) defeated Giovanni Escaner (19-4, 12 KOs) by an 8th round knockout. The two fighters exchanged knockdowns. Greer was down n the 3rd, while Escaner hit the deck in the eighth. The fight was then stopped.
Lennox Allen vs. Derrick – RESULTS
In other boxing results on the card, undefeated super middleweight Lennox Allen (22-0-1, 14 KOs) defeated Derrick Webster (28-4, 14 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision to win the WBA Gold title. Webster was down in the third.
Mikaela Mayer vs. Yareli Larios – RESULTS
In a competitive fight, the much taller NABF female super featherweight Mikaela Mayer (10-0, 4 KOs) beat Yareli Larios (13-2-1, 3 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 79-73, 78-74, and 80-72. Boxing News 24 scored it 80-72 for the towering Mayer.
