Who here has seen Michael Grant's recent performances?

Speaking of the Lewis fight, I heard that Grant was so nervous that he hyperventilated at the press conference. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

I think I can help here...because I actually have seen Grant's recent fights, and probably more of his fights than most people in ESB really. I always liked the guy so he's been someone I've kept tabs on, I do that with some heavyweights and particularly the ones from the 90s era.

I've got copies of 25 of his fights - Wright, Rick Sullivan, Sanders, Donaldson, Puritty, Wooden, Butler, Cole, Gonzalez, Izon, Obed Sullivan, Abdin, Savarese, Golota, Lewis, McCline, Willis, Davis, Martinez, Guinn, Hatcher, McGee, Montiy, King and Marinaccio.

So you wanted to know about recent fights? Long story short Grant is a long way from what he used to be, he's mainly a jab-right guy (and inconsistant with those) rather than the aggressive head and body puncher he used to be. He's such a nice guy I hate talking negative about him but he still has the same flaws of low hands and lack of venom in his work, while his positive attributes have faded over time...confidence being the absolute be-all-and-end-all of those. He also seems to take about four rounds before he really starts working in there, again a confidence thing.

From the current comeback :

TKO5 Zumbrun (June 2007)
Untelevised, so I haven't seen it. From the reports, it was a pretty quiet first three rounds as Grant tried working the jab. Finally started tossing right hands into the mix by the fourth and it was a ref stoppage from unanswered punches in the fifth.

TKO7 Montiy (Sept 2007)
Quiet again through 5. Grant staggered Montiy right at the start of the first round but didn't push the issue, Montiy may have deserved the third round just from outworking Grant. 6th round was actually one of Grant's best post-Lewis as, with about a minute to go, he stunned Montiy and suddenly opened up with both hands. Looked like his old self for a while - lots of punches in combination, floored Montiy then belted him around until the bell saved him. Only to have a very passive 7th round until a jab-right floored Montiy again for the finish. Grant in a nutshell these days, routine with flashes of the very good. Last three rounds entertaining, not so much the rest. My card - 59-53 Grant.

UD8 King (July 2008 )
Mainly fought forehead-to-forehead, while it would've been easier for Grant to jab from the outside but like the Guinn fight he got drawn into slugging close up. Lots of wrestling on the inside and the odd good whack, not a lot of quality. King deserved the 3rd with some nice aggressive shots. Grant stepped it up from the 5th onwards and kept plugging away to the body, had a bit in the 8th where he was able to knock King onto the ropes and bashed away at him there pretty well but King seemed to have a decent chin and survived. King happy to turtle defence and lash out with the odd good hard hook, but that wasn't enough to win more than a round. Uninspiring but solid work. My card - 79-73.

UD12 Marinaccio (Nov 2008 )
Fought almost entirely at range, unusual for a Grant fight. Mainly because Marinaccio, who's 6'5" himself, played the Holyfield vs Valuev game - move around on the outside, don't throw many but do throw quick counter shots. Which to his credit he managed to do, landing too many to be comfortable for Grant. Grant very passive over the first half of the fight, you could give Marinaccio the 1st & 9th and an argument over another round somewhere too despite him not throwing much, mainly due to his better quality and Grant unable to either get his jab untracked properly or land more than single good shots at a time. Eddie was getting extremely frustrated with Grant in the corner by this point, Atlas-level stuff. Grant got hit too much but floored Marinaccio with a right hand behind the ear in the 7th, tried to finish him off only to eat several counters in return, then lashed out with another right to face-plant Marinaccio right at the end. It looked like that might be the end of the fight, the ref made the 'fight's over' signal but it was a screw up and he meant 'end of the round', so Marinaccio got about an extra minute to collect his marbles. He recovered well, kept landing good hard counter shots throughout, but by this point Grant at least had his jab going in twos and threes and was starting to get through good rights and lefts occasionally too. Marinaccio got stopped by Byrd due to a shoulder injury and against Ibragimov from a cut, on the basis of this fight his chin isn't too bad because he took some hefty whacks in the last three rounds (particularly two huge rights in the 10th) and looked done-in but managed to make it to the end. Lack of intensity yet again from Grant though, who admitted as much himself in the interview afterwards and gave himself a 'C'. My card - 118-108.

Whew. I could talk more on these and others but that'll do for now.
If I can help out with info on any of Grant's fights just ask!

 

If you can't take a punch, then you are in the wrong business.