Looking Back: Former WBO super middleweight champion Otis Grant

The Jamaica-born, Quebec, Canada-residing Grant brothers, Otis and Howard, would both turn pro in November of 1988 at the famous Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

By the time they retired, they had both logged some impressive statistics and had careers they could look back on with pride. However, it was Otis, a year and a half younger than Howard, who had ‘world champion’ on his resume.

Howard would turn pro and fight for 7 years before deciding his time in the ring was through. During that time, he tallied an impressive 16-2-1 (9 KO’s) record and left the game having faced world champion Jake Rodriguez, England’s word title challenger Billy Schwer and multiple world champion Stevie Johnson, to name a few; an impressive ledger.

Otis, after turning pro in the fall of ’88, would be 13-0 by May of 1991. That year he would add the Canadian middleweight belt to his trophy case, then 3 fights later he would add the NABF middleweight title.

Grant would lose for the first time as a pro, getting stopped in the 12th round, against future world champion Quincy Taylor in Boston in the spring of 1994 in the 4th defence of his NABF middleweight title. Grant would then rattle off 6 straight wins leading to his first world title shot in the summer of 1997 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana against WBO middleweight champion Lonnie Bradley. While Grant gave a very good account of himself (appearing to clearly win the bout), the judges saw the fight as a draw and Bradley held onto his title. However, 2 fights later in December of 1997, he would travel to Sheffield, England and score a unanimous decision over Ryan Rhodes to capture the WBO world middleweight title and bring a world championship back home to Montreal.

Then, 2 wins later, he was facing the biggest fight of his career – undisputed P4P king Roy Jones Jr.

In November of 1998, Grant would travel to Mashantucket, Connecticut to take on legend Jones, but he was doing it at the light heavyweight limit, well above his ideal weight. However, Grant boxed very well in the fight but after seeing the canvas a couple of times, trainer Russ Anber stopped the fight before Grant sustained any unnecessary damage, stopping the fight in round 10. Grant, taking a shot at the WBC and WBA light heavyweight titles, against the game’s very best fighter, had again shown the world that he could indeed hang with boxing’s very best.

After the Jones fight, Grant would be away from boxing after being in a horrific car accident that he was lucky to survive; he would be out of the ring for 5 years.

Grant would return in November of 2003 and over the next 2 years would bang out 7 straight wins regaining both the WBC Intercontinental super middleweight title and the Canadian middleweight title. This led to a shot at undefeated, Californian Librado Andrade in a WBC super-middleweight title eliminator, with a shot at the world title on the line. After getting stopped in the 7th round, Grant would retire from boxing, leaving the game with a very impressive 38-3-1, (17 KO’s).

Maxboxing caught up with Montreal-based trainer Russ Anber who worked with Grant for years. Anber was happy to discuss a fighter he clearly he has a deep respect for, along with nothing but fond memories.

Bill Tibbs: Hey Russ, hope you are well, always great to touch base with you. Let’s talk about one of your fighters, Otis Grant.

Russ Anber: Hi Bill. I’d love to talk about Otis.

BT: You had him throughout his amateur career?

RA: I had him since the age of 13. He was a great amateur. Had him all the way through the amateurs. He beat Egerton Marcus in the amateurs, the same year Marcus would win the Olympic Silver Medal. He lost a decision in the finals of the ‘87 Pan-American Games to Cuban legend Angel Espinoza. He lost in the Olympic box-offs to Marcus who went to the Olympics. He was a great amateur and had a very good amateur career; one of Canada’s best. He was one of the most dominant figures on the Canadian team.

BT: Did he always want to turn pro after his amateur career was over? Was that always the plan?

RA: We had always planned to go pro after the amateurs. It was something that we talked about and it was the next logical step as a fighter. I mean in many ways the amateurs are the training ground to prepare you to go professional. But, we had always talked about that and it was something that was always the plan for us.

BT: When he turned pro, he didn’t mind a road gig?

RA: He really was the quintessential road warrior. You look at the amount of fights he has out of Montreal; a lot. He was a very cool guy, very relaxed, he had no problems going into anyone’s hometown and fighting. Going on the road didn’t bother him at all. It’s not that he didn’t like fighting at home, but nobody in Montreal would fight him. All the big names around at the time avoided him. We had no choice but to take him on the road.

BT: Otis turns pro in ’88, by ‘93 he’s 22-0, the Canadian middleweight champion. Then he suffers his first loss in Boston against Quincy Taylor. Tell me about that fight.

RA: Well, Taylor won the world title 4 fights later stopping Julian Jackson. That loss in ‘94. That fight still really haunts me. I never wanted that fight, I never felt good about it. It wasn’t the right style for Otis. I had a bad feeling about that bout from the start and I should have said more, I should have really made a case that this was the wrong fight at that time, and we weren’t taking it. I should have refused the fight. But, that was the guy USA Network wanted, it was the guy Artie Pelullo wanted, so I agreed with it but it is really one of the big regrets of my career. That was the wrong fight for my fighter, and I knew it and I should have simply refused it; that loss still haunts me.

BT: You win the world (WBO middleweight championship) title in 1997. That must have been a huge thrill; the culmination of a long journey.

RA: But before that, look at the draw he had with undefeated Lonnie Bradley in his first world title shot two fights previous. That was a fight he won; for sure. Should have gotten that win. This (Bradley) was an undefeated kid who was heading towards big things, and Otis beat him. Then 2 fights later Otis gets another crack, and we go into Sheffield, England against a hostile crowd and win the title. We actually had been in England for 8 weeks training. We didn’t tell them, or say anything, then we headed down to Sheffield for the fight. It was a great win. One of the real thrills of my boxing career. All the years, through the amateurs and everything we went through, it was just a great culmination of a lot of years of hard work and, like I said, still the greatest moment of my boxing life.

BT: You make a title defence in May of ‘98 and then in November you get a crack at the great Roy Jones.

RA: It was great opportunity. I mean when you get a chance to fight Roy Jones, you take it. Not only were we fighting the great Roy Jones, we were going up, not to super middleweight, but to light heavyweight. Our plan was to go in there and make the most of a great opportunity. But, we were going right back to middleweight, or maybe super middleweight, after the bout. It was good fight; I think Roy missed Otis with his punches more than he had missed any other fighter at that time. Roy obviously respected him and liked what he saw because they worked together in camps after that. Roy brought Otis in for sparring. It was a good fight, Otis didn’t take any unnecessary damage, it was a good payday. No regrets at all about that opportunity or how it tuned out.

BT: And now you work with Roy.

RA: I’ve worked with Roy for a number of years now, a great guy, and one of my best friends in boxing.

BT: What is Otis up to these days?

RA: He is doing great; he is a full-time school teacher and he and his brother Howard have their gym in Pointe Claire on the island.

BT: Well, you know Russ, all good boxing people are teachers on the side (laughs).

RA: (Laughing) Yes, I heard that.

BT: When you look back, and think of the name ‘Otis Grant’, what comes to mind?

RA: Bill, let me tell you. I never had so much as a disagreement with him. Never a cross word in all the years and years we worked together. He was like a dream fighter, always in shape, a model guy, a stand-up guy; he spoiled me. He was the first fighter I ever went to the ‘big time’ with and I thought every fighter was like him, (laughs), he really spoiled me. I learned that Otis was the exception, not the rule. He was such an easy-going guy outside the ring, but a hard worker in it. He had that fire to compete and become a champion. Really a model citizen, just a great guy. I have nothing but fond memories of Otis and our years working together. As solid a guy as you could hope to meet.

BT: Thanks for the chat Russ, always good to catch up.

RA: Thank you Bill, anytime.