Alexander Brand: A Closer Look at the Overlooked Fighter

By Liam Lawer - 11/02/2015 - Comments

By Liam Lawer: On November 21st, WBA Super World Super Middleweight Champion, Andre ‘S.O.G’ Ward, is set to fight the relatively unknown Alexander Brand; here is a closer look at his opponent:

Alexander Brand Monsalve was born in Bogota, Columbia, on the 31st of January 1977. Immediately that date sticks out like a swollen eye; Brand will be just over 2 months shy of his 39th birthday on fight night. In this day and age, with advancements in technology and nutrition, fighters are expected to have a slightly longer shelf life than their earlier counterparts. The example of Bernard Hopkins is often brought up, last year breaking his own record as being the oldest champion in history, at 49 years of age. However, unlike Hopkins and other fighters who have had success at an advanced age, such as Sergio Martinez, it appears Brand began boxing when he was relatively young.

Though his amateur career is hard to trace, it appears by all accounts to have been a long and rather successful one. He fought aged just 17 in the Panamerican Boxing Championships (1994) – allegedly had an amateur record of 420-17 – and just missed out on the Olympics on two occasions. Despite turning pro at the comparatively late age of 32, he clearly came into the paid ranks with a wealth of experience, which the aforementioned Hopkins and Martinez did not. The point to be made here then is how much the merciless hands of ‘Father Time’ have affected Alexander Brand, especially when during those years he has packed in a substantial number of fights, particularly in his amateur era, at a solid, decent level.

Since turning pro on August 9th 2009, the Columbian puncher has amassed a record of 24 wins, with 19 by way of knock-out, and only one defeat: a split decision loss versus current WBC Super Middleweight Champion Badou Jack, which many thought he was unlucky to receive. The two years following his début saw Brand build his record to 12-0 with all wins by knock-out. However, this was against very limited competition, a point compounded by the fact that the first man to take him the distance was Frank Mola; who was 3-3 at the time having been stopped in all of his losses. After this he racked up a few more low key victories, before losing the debated decision to Badou Jack. On this fight, Scott Christ of Bleacher Report wrote that Brand was ‘exceptionally awkward’ and that he ‘disagreed with the winner’. Certainly, it seems that Brand should be going into this fight undefeated, which may have made the match more acceptable in some eyes.

Following the Jack defeat, Brand scored another couple of victories, including one over the tough South African William Gare. It was around this time that talks of a fight between him and James DeGale began to emerge. Although the fight never happened, DeGale had just had a tough, close encounter with European level fighter Hadillah Mohoumadi. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been too far a stretch to say that Brand could have been a potential banana skin for the Olympic Gold Medallist.

Finally, in his most recent contest, the Colombian won a near shut out over the awkward Bernard Donfack, who had just beaten the previously undefeated prospect Oscar Ahlin, and hadn’t been beaten in two years himself.

In regards to the fight with Ward then, Alexander Brand is perhaps a much better fighter than people are giving him credit for. He could well have been undefeated himself, has a tonne of experience and can punch a bit too. Despite his advanced age he appears to be in good shape and good form, and is a better test for a rusty Ward than an overweight Paul Smith. Despite only being a career super middleweight like Ward himself, one would not be surprised to see Brand give Ward a tough, ugly night. He won’t get much credit for it though, such is the case with the overlooked fighter.



Comments are closed.