Gonzalez had wins over both Lennox Lewis & Riddick Bowe in the amateurs but he was a total loser in the pro's. He was there against Grant just for the paycheck.. Grant was hailed as the next big thing in HW boxing but then he met Lennox Lewis !! Lennox destroyed him.
Michael Grant managed to knock out Golota and beat Gonzalez quicker than bowe did. But he was just outclassed by Lennox Lewis. Lewis was something else
Oh come on, lol. It ain't that serious. Golota quit after bulling Grant around the ring for 10 rounds (As he was prone to do in the 90s), and though the fight with Gonzalez was likely real, I wouldn't bet that Jorge wanted much more than a paycheck when he got sent to the canvas. We all know that Grant would've gotten whooped by the versions of Bowe and Witherspoon that took out Gonzalez.
Grant had a glass chin, he got beat up in spots but also boxed well. If Grant could take a punch I think he would've won more convincingly. Not disagreeing, bowe would've smashed him This content is protected
His chin wasn't the worst part, I think it was his legs. You can see it in guys who don't really work out their lower half and don't have great defense or great chins, their legs will sprawl out like a deer's when they're put in trouble- And that can cause some major issues. I see the same thing happen when I go rock climbing with my little brother, certain guys just never learned how to transfer the proper energy to their legs to stay up, and it makes it so much easier to get put on the canvas. If you go back and watch when Grant gets in trouble and compare it to when Golota gets hurt, you'll see the difference. Michael's legs broke down under him, whereas when Andrew got hurt and started to drop, he caught himself with his legs and started to go back up while heading back towards the ropes.
I think it was a decent win for Grant at this stage of his career. Gonzalez was one of his first big name (even though in decline), and Grant did get rid of him very quickly. When I first saw Grant against Lewis, I found him stiff, slow, uncoordinated, and like my fellow posters said, with very bad balance. I couldn't understand why he was viewed so highly. But last year, as I watched his 1998/2001 fights, he appeared to me more legit than before. He had solid wins over good opposition, while demonstrating a proper jab, good combos and surprising agility at times for his size. But Lewis just crushed him, both with legal and illegal tactics. Grant should have took another two fights with top 10 opposition before facing him. I don't think his chin was that bad, but the fact that he took some fearsome shots by one of the best punchers ever will necessarily have devastating effects. To his credit, Grant showed tremendous heart and will to win.
