He's got a fight coming up on 7/11/08 against Demetrice King. King's got 5 wins in a row coming into this fight as does Grant (but stretched over more years). Grants last fight against a meaningful (at the time) boxer was against Dominick Guinn. By the time the fight was stopped in the 7th Grant had been dropped 4 times. He's 35 years old now. Seems like ages ago when he was a young 26 year old struggling, but showing heart and potential, with Andrew Golota. It's been said now and it was said then that he was a good athlete, but not a good fighter. But at 6'7 and having shown the ability to rise from getting dropped early I thought that he was going to be something special. Prior to the Lennox Lewis fight I remember Lewis's camp saying that they wanted to fight Grant as early as this because he was still young and exploitable. I still thought that Grant would have put up a better showing against Lewis. Two rounds later he was done. I don't know what it is, but I feel bad for Michael Grant. Maybe it's just seeing potential in someone who lacks some of the essentials to make a prizefighter. Who still thinks, regardless of all of the set backs, that he can make a significant enough dent in the sport to be remembered. Who knows? Here's hoping for a good showing against King.
He's been at TR training with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. If anyone can tentatively give him what he needs to succeed, it's Eddie. That said, there's some guys who look great in the Gym, even in sparring, with the gear on and without the crowd (even with such as in the case of Harrison), they do wonders. Take the gear off, put them under the big lights and in front of cameras, and make them do it for livelihood and bad things happen to them. Michael, even at his age, with the state of the HW division, can still decide for himself if he's going to be that kind of guy or not. Hell of a nice guy though.
Thanks for that information, King. I had never seen nor heard much about either Grant or Harrison in the gym sparring. That's something, you add the element of pressure and it can turn the most confident into the most timid.
Well, they wouldn't have been Pros had they looked in the Gym like their worst moments in the ring. It's quite the strange thing in Boxing, I'm not sure how it translates to other Sports. Best example I can think of is a former schoolmate of mine (when I went to Hampton High School in Virginia before transferring to Bethel) Ronald Curry. Curry was such a stand-out Athlete, everyone just KNEW he was going to be drafted early by the NFL eventually, and do very big things in College Football, but he did neither. And ironically he wasn't much for off-the-field shenanigans. Whereas to the contrary, Iverson went to Bethel High School and because of his friends, WAS prone to off the Court drama, but still ended up a Star, and has solidified himself in the NBA. Talent is something a lot of guys have, but do they have couth, commitment, the will to go as far as that talent COULD take them? Sometimes only when they're not so pressured to.
Grant was talented but was defintely mismanaged. He was no where close to being ready for Lewis. More damaging was putting him in with McCline after suffering such a bad knockout loss to Lewis.(15 months of no activity). Should have slowly built up competition after his title fight.
Goiod post. He did show early potential and had the phsyical tools but something just wasnt there mentally
Had a guy in Indiana just like that. Little bitty guy would spar anybody in the gym.. often outweighed by 20+... he lit everyone up. He was the pulse of the gym. But, in real fights, he was worthless. It was like he got so nerveous that he just wasnt the same fighter.
I think he was more over-hyped than anything, and I was one who bought into it after he beat Izon. I'd rather watch Henry Akinwande hold someone for 10 rounds than watch Michael get knocked down for 10 rounds. Seriously though, if Teddy and Buddy couldn't make him a great fighter, then it wasn't meant to be. Too bad though, cuz he's a good guy and would have been great for the sport.
I disagree with the Teddy and Buddy statements. I've never seen Buddy successfully train a HW to this day, and to succeed with Teddy you have to fit a particular mold, which Michael just didn't.
I'd rather watch woman's golf than watch Akinwande fight. Back to Grant- I too bought into him after Izon fight. But I think that his fight with Golota kind of opened my eyes. Earlier post mentioned how much heart he had in bout, but I think it was more about Golota quitting than Grant prevailing.
to say michael grant didn't 'make a dent' in the sport is wrong. he was the no 1 contender and fought for the title, the fact he was obliterated and ruined doesn't change that.
I'm not trying to take anything away from what he did accomplish. I always liked the guy. I thought that having a rebound fight against McCline after a year of inactivity (wrt a pro-fight) was a terrible idea. Up until that point McCline was fighting regularly. I'm sure he'll be remembered to some extent. But, when I bring his name up to friends when watching a boxing match, the mention is usually not met with affection. Worse than that, he's usually mocked. People, in general, don't take into a count poor fighter management, maybe not the most ideal paring of trainer and fighter.
I'm hoping for that too, Sammy. You're right, he is a likeable guy. And one willing to stay around after a loss to talk to the announcers, not offering up any excuses.
