Rising star: Robert Brant

Sub Lead11-Jan-17by John J. Raspanti

By Anthony George

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Robert Brant is a middleweight boxer who’s undefeated in 21 bouts. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brant about his upcoming fight and his stellar 2016.

Brant began last year with a fight against DeCarlo Perez. The bout was featured on ShoBox, and considered to be a showdown between two rising prospects.

Every boxing insider I spoke with favored Perez. Perez was the battle tested guy, the experienced guy, the paid his due guy. Somebody forgot to let Robert Brant know.

Nicknamed "Bravo," Brant dismantled Perez.

Brant had watched film of Perez and seen a flaw in his style.

“He was available to get hit with right hands," said Brant.

Perez was out of there in four rounds, courtesy of Brant’s accurate and crippling right crosses.

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ESPN rated Brant’s stoppage of Perez 6^th on their top KO’s of the year.

Next up for Brant was journeyman DelRay Raines. The journey only lasted 55 seconds.

Brant finished the year stopping veteran Chris Fitzpatrick in three rounds. Brant phrased his victory over Fitzpatrick as a, “A good day at the office.”

2016 was a good year at the office for Bravo. ESPN rated him as the 12^th top rated prospect of the year. Brant is ranked 3^rd by the WBA and 5^th by the WBO; the case can be made that Brant went from prospect to contender last year.

Looking to get the most of his 2016 accolades, Brant wants to be as busy as possible in 2017; with a title shot in the last quarter of the year. First up is George Carter Jr., on January 20^th.

Carter Jr. has won 14 of his 16 fights, with 7 knockouts. Brant describes Carter Jr., a southpaw, as a,”Decent fighter with fast hands.”

Carter Jr. is a guy Robert Brant is supposed to defeat. However, Brant is not taking Carter Jr. for granted.

Prior to our interview, Brant sparred 12 high octane, competitive sparring with world champion Jermell Charlo. Brant also spars with Errol Spence on a regular basis, leaving little doubt that he is not weary southpaws.

January 20^th also marks the return to Brant’s hometown of Minnesota. Fighting in front of the home folk is often more of a burden than a celebration. While Brant is aware of this dynamic, he is not concerned about it.

Brant indicated that he is all business and is not trying to, “Show his friends from high school how cool I am.” He’s focused on the “best version of George Carter Jr.”, and nothing else.

If a title shot at 160 pounds is in Robert Brant’s future, he must win, and win impressively, on January 20^th.

The fight can be seen on FloSports.