Born in Chicago, IL - Michael Grant was an outstanding athlete with big potential. He was a high school standout in three sports (Baseball, Basketball, and Football) and could have probably pursued any of them as a career. But after only 12 amateur fights, he turned professional on July 21, 1994 and started off with a first round stoppage over Ernie English. It wasn't until his 7th pro bout that an opponent made it to the final bell.
It was nearly a year and a half before Grant was really tested - being put in with well respected journeyman - Mike Dixon. Grant had built a record of 13-0, including a win over 6' 10" Stanley Wright and there was buzz about this 6' 7" heavyweight who was showing signs of greatness. He passed his test against Dixon, scoring a 6th round technical knockout. The "buzz" got louder.
The win against Dixon gave confidence to Grant's management team that he was ready to be stepped up into contention, and his level of opposition became a steady diet of well regarded fighters including wins over: Corey Sanders, Olian Alexander, Ed Donaldson, Ross Purrity, Louis Monaco, Ray Anis, Jeff Wooden, and Lionel Butler. That was a very impressive string of victories which led Grant to his first title challenge.
It was June 20, 1997 at Bally's in Atlantic City. Grant faced off with former IBF Cruiserweight world champion - Alfred "Ice" Cole (28-2) for the vacant IBC Heavyweight title belt. Cole had not lost his cruiserweight title in the ring, but rather, gave it up to pursue a heavyweight championship. Grant had the size advantage with 3" in height, and 20 Lbs. over his opponent, but skill wise, this was easily Grant's biggest test, and with his coveted first world title within his grasp. With Grant leading on 2 of the judges scorecards, and the fight even on 1 of them, Cole was not able to answer the bell for round 11 and Michael Grant was now the IBC's still undefeated, heavyweight world champion.
Michael successfully defended that title 3 times with tko wins over Jorge Luis Gonzalez, David Izon, and Obed Sullivan before challenging and defeating Ahmed Abdin via 10th round stoppage to gain the vacant NABF Heavyweight championship belt. A 10 round unanimous decision over highly ranked contender Lou Savarese put him in line to face Andrew Golota in a WBC title elimination bout - the winner to face Lennox Lewis for the unified WBC/IBF/IBO heavyweight world championships. But first, Grant had to defend his NABF title against a very dangerous Andrew Golota.
Dangerous was the word, as Grant went down twice in the first round, but survived the big start by Golota, to fight his way back and, while trailing on all 3 scorecards, put Golota down in round 10, causing Golota to say that he had enough, and Grant was still the NABF champion, and now the ultimate prize - The WBC/IBF/IBO World Heavyweight championships were his focus, but to realize that dream, he would have to defeat the heavyweight king - Lennox Lewis.
5 Months later, Michael Grant stood at 31-0, 22 ko's. He was the former IBC Heavyweight Champion, the current NABF Heavyweight champion, and now was just 1 win away from greatness. The fight was held at Madison Square Garden and televised world-wide on HBO. Larry Merchant framed it perfectly... "...these are two Goliaths, it's Goliath vs Goliath. No Slingshots, just big boulders being thrown by both of them." Merchant's statement was prophetic, as Grant came out aggressively and fearlessly launched some boulders at the champion. But the champion answered back with some boulders of his own, scoring 3 knockdowns in the opening round, the 3rd knockdown saw Grant rise up just beating the count as the bell sounded. Being a world title fight, the 3 knockdown rule was not in effect, and Grant was allowed to return to his corner to continue the fight. It was just a matter of time though, as Grant showed heart and bravery coming out to battle with Lewis in round 2, but the damage was done, and Lennox Lewis scored the knockout at 2:53 of that 2nd round to retain his title belts.
The loss to Lennox Lewis was Grant's first, and it was hard to deal with. He took about a year and 3 months off to reassess and rebuild his career. He returned in a tough way against another highly regarded contender - Jameel "Big Time" McCline (25-2-3) and the contest didn't go as planned. Just seconds into the bout, McCline caught Grant with a shot that sent him to the canvas. Grant got up and continued the fight, but was hobbling around the ring, and Tony Weeks waived the fight to a halt as Grant's ankle was injured and he could not continue. After going 31-0, Michael Grant now had suffered back-to-back losses, and his reputation as a possible future world champion was in question.
Grant did not give up, but rather, returned to the gym and went back to training. 8 months later, he was back in the ring, and began a string of knockout victories that showed how serious he was about returning to the top of the division. A string of 7 straight KO wins which included - Robert Davis, Anthony Willis, and Gil Martinez in that run, brought Grant back into the high world rankings, and set him up for a showdown match against undefeated Dominick Guinn (21-0). June 7, 2003 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ - was a bad night for Big Michael as he was dropped twice before being stopped by the red-hot Guinn in round 7. That loss left doubts as to Grant's chances to return to title contention.
Grant wasn't buying into the negative talk though, and he went right back to work, running off 3 straight wins. He then didn't fight for 2 years, and returned in 2007 and ran off 5 more wins to put his self in line for a shot at 2 minor titles, and redemption as a world class contender.
It was August 21, 2010 when Michael Grant would challenge Tomasz Adamek (41-1) for Adamek's NABO and IBF-International Heavyweight Titles. They were not "world" titles, but a win over Adamek would raise Grant's chances at a world title shot. Grant entered the fight with a nice size advantage over the champion, 5 inches in height, and 44 pounds to be exact. But on the negative side, Grant was 38 years old. He fought well, and tried to use that size advantage, but Adamek was just too much for him and won the unanimous decision on scores of 118-111, 118-110, and 117-111.
That loss did not hurt Grant's standing, in fact he fought well enough that just 2 fights later, after a nice win over Tye "Big Sky" Fields (45-2) by 3rd round tko, Grant was offered his final shot at a title belt.
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| Grant battles Frans Botha for the vacant WBF Heavyweight Title |
Grant was offered a shot at the vacant WBF Heavyweight title, but he would have to fly all the way to Johannesburg, South Africa and defeat South Africa's local hero - Frans Botha (48-5-3) to do it. He did just that! In a greuling battle, Grant, trailing on all 3 scorecards, with both men exhausted and struggling to finish the fight on their feet, it was Michael Grant who landed an unbelievable right hand with just 37 seconds left in the fight to knock Botha down, and OUT for the count! It was an emotional, and beautiful win for the man who had struggled so hard to climb back to the top.
That victory would be Grant's last. He lost his title to Carlos Takam (27-1) in his first title defense held in France, and then lost two more fights to top quality boxers - Manuel Charr (26-2) in Russia, and his final bout to Krzystof Zimnoch (21-1-1) in Poland.
It was a fascinating journey for this man who had only 12 amateur fights, and went on to cause quite a stir in the professional ranks. He won titles, and had some big fights in a career that spanned well over 2 decades!
He ended with a nice record of: 48 wins, 7 defeats, winning 36 by knockout.
Check out Michael Grant's amazing pro ledger at: "Big" MICHAEL GRANT on Boxrec.com
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If you would like to see Michael Grant in action, I have these bouts available on DVD. Contact me for information:
MICHAEL GRANT vs
RICK SULLIVAN [tko-1]
COREY "T-Rex" SANDERS [tko-2]
ROSS PURITTY [w-10]
RAY ANIS [w-10]
ALFRED COLE [tko-10] {Vacant IBC Heavy Title}
DAVID IZON [tko-5] {IBC Heavy Title}
LOU SAVARESE [w-10]
LENNOX LEWIS [ko-by-2] {IBF/WBC/IBO Heavy Title}
JAMEEL MCCLINE [tko-by-1]
ROBERT DAVIS [tko-3]
DOMINICK GUINN [tko-by-7]
TOMASZ ADAMEK [L-12] {NABO/IBF Int'l Heavy Titles}
TYE FIELDS [ko-3]
FRANS BOTHA [ko-12] {Vacant WBF Heavy Title}
CARLOS TAKAM [tko-by-8] {WBF Heavy Title}
MANUEL CHARR [tko-by-5]
KRZYSZTOF ZIMNOCH [ko-by-2] (*HL ONLY) (*Grant's LAST pro bout)
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