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Rob Brant Scores a Huge KO on ShoBox, Full Results from Tucson!

23 Jan 2016

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Rob Brant

TUCSON, AZ (January 23, 2016) – In the main event, Rob Brant improved his undefeated streak to 19-0, 12 KOs after annihilating his opponent, Decarlo Perez in the fourth round. Brant was in control from the very beginning of the bout and his evident game plan was in full effect, a game plan that Brant says him and his team had been working on for weeks now. The first two rounds he dominated convincingly, and to Perez’s credit, he was still a very game fighter and landed a few good power shots of his own too. The third round marked the beginning of the end as a Brant became more and more offensive and a well timed counter shot dropped Perez. This is where the maturity of Brant shined through, he knew he had his opponent in trouble, but he was not fully ripe yet and he continued to stick to the plan and did not get over anxious or go in for a pre-mature kill. “When the first one landed, I said to myself that that could happen again.” says Brant. The fourth round did not last long, :35 seconds into the round a huge over hand right dropped Perez prompting referee Rocky Burke to stop the fight after he laid motionless on the mat. “I was shocked to see him go down like that. Even when you hit someone really well, you don’t expect them to go out like that. I was watching him and thinking ‘I don’t think he’s going to get up.’” says Brant after his big knockout victory.

With the win, Rob Brant picks up the WBA NABA Middleweight Championship and is ready to begin taking the next steps in his career. “I was looking to improve on my last performance and I feel it was mission accomplished. We cut down the angles and threw the aggressive shots we wanted to and the results came. He had only been stopped once previous and I’m not sure if it was like that or not, but that was one of my highlight stoppages I’ve ever had in my career, amateur or pro. It definitely shows growth. I was surprised it ended the way it did. I was expecting ten hard rounds. After the third round, I was thinking it was going to be a tough ten rounds because he kept throwing punches. I feel phenomenal and it’s a big relief. It’s so much time you dedicate to one night and to one person. I feel like I personally know Decarlo Perez I’ve watched so many interviews and clips of him. It’s exciting but at the same time, it’s like… I don’t want to call it post-partum, but it’s like where do I go from here? My purpose is to become a champion, so now I’m on to the next goal.”

Decarlo Perez drops to 15-4, 2 KOs, but still has a bright future ahead of him “I just got caught. That’s all that happened. I didn’t see the shot coming.” said Perez backstage after the loss. “He was speedier than I thought. He’s fast here and there and he got me with something I wasn’t ready for. I wasn’t surprised by him. That’s the fighter I was ready for. I just made one mistake and got caught.”

In the co-main event, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller of Brooklyn, NY, improved to 16-0, 14 KOs after stopping Donovan Dennis (12-3, 2 KOs) in seven rounds. Miller started the fight out ferociously and dropped Dennis twice in the first round, almost putting an end to things early. Much to the credit of Dennis, he did not go down without a fight. He began to box very well and improve with each passing round, at times it looked like he would briefly stun Miller and in the fifth round it looked as if he was fully in control of the fight at this point. In round 6 the signs of fatigue were setting in, his mouth was wide open and Miller began to regain control, it was a slow paced round, but a turning point in the fight for sure. Round number 7 was all Miller and the body language of Dennis did not look good. After a barrage of punches in the corner, Dennis was out on his feet and the referee called a halt to the action at the 2:31 mark. At the time of the stoppage, I had it scored 56-56. “Every fight I prepare for a tough test. I had him out in the first round but I threw my shoulder out throwing a left hook.” says Miller. “I was looking for the knockout so bad he started catching me with some shots. So then I decided to box a little bit and that’s what I did until the knockout came. I’m glad it went seven rounds. It taught me to go to Plan B. I can box beautifully when I want. I showed some of that tonight. It was good experience. I loved it. My power was there; my wind was good. I was breathing well and seeing the shots. On to the next!” Miller wasted no time calling out recently crowned heavyweight champion, Charles Martin, along with Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. Only time will tell if he is ready for one of these opponents, and tonight he was his biggest critic. “From one to ten I give my performance a four. I should have gone to Plan B a lot sooner. I had him in the first. In the second I tried to get him out of there. By the third, I should have started boxing him then, but I didn’t. I took too long to change my strategy. So I give me a four out of ten tonight.”

With the loss Donovan Dennis will head back to the drawing board. Looking to rebound from his loss at the ESPN Boxcino Heavyweight finals, he may not have picked up the win on his record, but he picked up some new fans in the process and showed a lot of heart and grit in the ring. “In the second round, I rolled my ankle and couldn’t move how I wanted to. It was hard on my ankle. I fight hard though. I didn’t even mention it to my corner until the sixth round. I’m not making excuses though. He caught me and that’s the reason why I rolled my ankle so he did his job. When I fight. I always fight hard. That’s not the first time. I’ve lost before and people always say ‘that was a great fight man,’ even when I do lose.” Mixed with a long layoff and an in ring injury, Dennis was not the best version of his self in there, but he is not ready to stop anytime soon. “I’m glad I got to go out the way I did and not from complaining about my ankle. I am a real fighter.”

The breakout star of the night was undefeated Bakhtiyar Eyubov (10-0, 10 KOs) after a very impressive performance that earned him a third round TKO victory over Jared Robinson (16-3-1, 7 KOs). Eyubov was simply ferocious from the start, dropping Robinson in the first and second rounds, and then finally putting an end to things in the third round. A hellacious onslaught of punches against a defenseless Robinson against the ropes caused the stoppage, which could have come a bit sooner with many ringside observers yelling on to stop the fight. When asked about his easy job, Eyubov quickly replied “Was I surprised at how easy it was? No I can’t believe he made it to round three. It was harder than I thought it would be. The ref should have stopped it earlier.” Eyubov was very entertaining throughout, and promised all his fights will be action packed, much like Arturo Gatti. “My trainers are teaching me to move my head, and I’m confident that no one can hurt me. I will never ever be knocked down.” After the fight was over, Eyubov continued to entertain the crowd with a celebration dance mid ring, and then put on a over sized yellow hat and continued his celebration. Of course we had to ask what the dance and hat was all about. “The dance and the hat are traditional Kazakhstan traditions. I was honoring my countrymen with that dance. And the hat is a symbol of my honor. No one can take that hat from me.”

Also on the card, Demond Brock (10-3-1, 3 KOs) of New Orleans, LA. went up against Samuel Teah (7-1-1, 2 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA. The fight was hotly contested and a very close fight to score. The first half of the fight belonged to Teah, where the second half went to Brock. Both men fought their fight, Brock very aggressive with Teah boxing and countering smartly. I definitely give this one my best fight of the night award and tip my hat to both fighters. The official scores for this 8 round fight were 77-75 for Teah, 78-74 for Brock, and 76-76 a draw. Not the result either man would hope for, but I personally would love to see them go at it again. I got the chance to catch up with both men back stage and they both felt they won. Teah notes that he started out a bit too early and fast, and could have paced his self a little bit better, which he would do in a potential rematch. Brock on the other hand says he did not start off fast enough, and gave away some early rounds.

Keenan Carbajal (9-2-1, 5 KOs) picked up a controversial decision over Thomas Herrera (4-16-1, 1 KO). When the decision was announced, the ballroom filled with boos from the upset crowd. Official scores were 57-57, and 58-56 twice for Carbajal, picking up the majority decision victory. A huge right hand from Herrera in the 5th round had Carbajal extremely hurt and almost out, and to his credit he fought back valiantly.

Alfonso Olvera (6-2, 3 KOs) picked up a fourth round TKO victory against over-matched Colbert Lozoya (7-12-1, 1 KO)

Carlos Cordova (1-0, 1 KO) won his professional debut via second round KO over David Courtney (0-1), also making his professional debut. A vicious string of knockdowns caused by precise body punching prompted referee Tony Zaino to call a halt to the bout.