Michael Anthony Grant (born August 4, 1972) is an American professional boxer and world heavyweight title challenger. Grant’s pinnacle of his boxing career came in 2000 when he unsuccessfully challenged Lennox Lewis for the IBF, WBC and IBO heavyweight titles. He came in undefeated but was knocked out in two rounds by the eventual champion. He also held fringe titles in the IBC and WBF during this period.

Early life

Before his boxing career, he blossomed into a three-sport star at Chicago's Harper High School. He was a right handed pitcher who drew attention from the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, an imposing two-way player at tight end and defensive end on the football field and a front court force on the basketball court. Grant graduated in 1991 and went on to play American Football at Mount San Antonio College near

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, and Fullerton College in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

. At 6'7", he was a towering defensive end looking to leap to a major college program. But poor grades forced him to the sidelines.

Amateur career

Grant had just 12 amateur fights. In the Golden Gloves 1994 semi-finals he suffered his only amateur loss to

Derrick Jefferson Derrick Lavon Jefferson (born March 10, 1968) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO title in 2001, and is perhaps best remembered for his brutal left hook-knockout of Maurice Harris in 1999. Early life Jefferso ...

on points.

Professional career

Early career

In his early career, Grant beat Corey Sanders, Ross Puritty, Lionel Butler,

Al Cole Alfred Rudolph Cole (born April 21, 1964), best known as Al Cole, is an American former professional boxer. He won the IBF cruiserweight title and was a major force in the division until moving up to heavyweight, where he had less success. In 20 ...

Jorge Luis Gonzalez Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...

David Izon David Izonritei (born 29 April 1968) is a Nigerian former boxer. Also known as David Izon, Izonritei won the Heavyweight silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. During his professional career, he defeated world title challengers ...

and

Obed Sullivan Obed Benjamin Sullivan (born January 17, 1968) is an American former professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Fighting Marine", Sullivan was at times a highly ranked heavyweight who fought many significant fighters of his era. Sullivan turned pro in 1 ...

. The 1997 Al Cole win earned him the fringe IBC title. Grant made defenses against

and

. In 1999 Michael beat Ahmed Abdin to earn the NABF title, then defeated

Lou Savarese Lou Savarese (born July 14, 1965) is an American former professional boxer from Greenwood Lake, New York. On April 26, 1997, he challenged for the Lineal Heavyweight Championship, and lost by a controversial split decision to the Lineal World ...

. His last fight before the title shot was against

Andrew Golota Andrzej Jan Gołota (; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as ...

in a WBC eliminator, touching the canvas twice but winning by stoppage in the tenth round after a knockdown when Golota refused to continue.

World title challenge

Grant's undefeated record and victories against Sullivan, Savarese and Golota earned him an opportunity to challenge newly crowned undisputed heavyweight champion

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hol ...

. Lewis was coming off a unanimous decision victory against

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the Undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion at cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight in the late 1 ...

and wanted to make a statement with his first title-defence. Grant started the fight very aggressively but Lewis put him down with a right hand. He got back to his feet and was beaten badly by Lewis, a left hand on the side of the head sending Grant reeling into the corner and counting as a second knockdown. Grant was badly hurt but seemed to recover toward the end of the first round until a vicious right hand sent him down for the third time. Remarkably Grant beat the count. His trainer Don Turner implored him to use his legs. While Grant tried to rally, Lewis took his time in round two before finishing Grant off with an uppercut.

Later career

Sidelined by injuries for fifteen months, in his comeback fight Grant fought and lost to

Jameel McCline Jameel McCline (born May 20, 1970) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged for the world heavyweight title on an unprecedented four occasions, losing all four attempts to Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd, Nikolai Valuev and Samuel ...

in 2001. McCline knocked him down in the first round, and Grant had to retire due to a broken ankle. After a brief comeback, then-undefeated

Dominick Guinn Dominick Alexander Guinn (born April 20, 1975) is an American professional boxer. He is self-managed and he is trained by Ronnie Shields and Alexander Gutierrez. He stands at 6'3" tall. Known as the "Southern Disaster",Gerbasi, Thomas (2013)Domi ...

knocked him out in 2003 in seven rounds. Since the loss, Grant has fought sporadically against limited opposition while having several high-profile trainers, including Don Turner,

Teddy Atlas Theodore A. "Teddy" Atlas Jr. (born July 29, 1956) is an American boxing trainer and fight commentator. Early life The son of a doctor, Atlas grew up in a wealthy area of Staten Island, New York City, New York. His mother, Mary Riley Atlas, w ...

, Buddy McGirt and most recently

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (born Edward Dean Gregory; April 30, 1952) is a former professional boxer and the former WBA Light Heavyweight Champion of the World. He is currently a boxing trainer. He has also been an occasional actor. Amateur caree ...

. On May 7, 2010, Grant fought for the first time in eighteen months and won by first-round technical knockout over Kevin Burnett at

Oheka Castle Oheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is a hotel located on the North Shore of Long Island, in West Hills, New York, also known as the "Gold Coast," a hamlet in the town of Huntington. It was the country home of investment finan ...

, Huntingdon, NY. On August 21, 2010, with a 20 kg weight advantage, Grant was physically dominant, but lost on points to Tomasz Adamek by a unanimous decision. On March 11, 2011, Grant fought

Tye Fields Walter Tyeson "Tye" Fields (born February 8, 1975) is an American former professional boxer who held the USBA heavyweight title. Boxing career Tye Fields grew up in Beaverton, Oregon. Fields played college basketball and was a starter at forwar ...

at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Grant scored a one-punch third-round knockout. On November 19, 2011, Grant faced Francois Botha for the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) Heavyweight title. Grant won by a 12th-round KO, having needed a KO due to being well behind on all three cards. The fight took place in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, the first time he had fought outside the USA. Immediately after the fight, Grant called out the Klitschko brothers who hold all of the major heavyweight titles. After an 18-month layoff, Grant defended the WBF belt against France-based Cameroonian Carlos Takam on May 24, 2013, in

Noisy-le-Grand Noisy-le-Grand () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, losing by 8th-round technical knockout. It was announced in July 2017 that Grant would face

Dillian Whyte Dillian Whyte (; born 11 April 1988) is a British professional boxer. He has formerly competed as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He held the WBC interim heavyweight title twice, between 2019 and 2020, and again from 2021 to April 2022 ...

at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United ...

on August 19, however the fight was scrapped after a backlash from fans, and Dillian would face

Malcolm Tann Malcolm Earl Tann (born August 20, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2017. Amateur career Tann started boxing while serving in the United States Air Force. In 2002 Tann became National Golden Gloves Super H ...

instead.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" , - ! !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , - , 55 , Loss , 48–7 , align=left, Krzysztof Zimnoch , KO , 2 (8), , Apr 22, 2017 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 54 , Loss , 48–6 , align=left, Manuel Charr , RTD , 5 (10), , Oct 24, 2014 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 53 , Loss , 48–5 , align=left, Carlos Takam , TKO , 8 (12), , May 24, 2013 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 52 , Win , 48–4 , align=left, Francois Botha , KO , 12 (12), , Nov 19, 2011 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 51 , Win , 47–4 , align=left,

, KO , 3 (10), , Mar 11, 2011 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 50 , Loss , 46–4 , align=left, Tomasz Adamek , UD , 12 , Aug 21, 2010 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 49 , Win , 46–3 , align=left, Kevin Burnett , TKO , 1 (8), , May 7, 2010 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 48 , Win , 45–3 , align=left, Paul Marinaccio , UD , 12 , Nov 15, 2008 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 47 , Win , 44–3 , align=left, Demetrice King , UD , 8 , Jul 11, 2008 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 46 , Win , 43–3 , align=left, Kevin Montiy , TKO , 7 (8), , Sep 5, 2007 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 45 , Win , 42–3 , align=left, Billy Zumbrun , TKO , 5 (8), , Jun 27, 2007 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 44 , Win , 41–3 , align=left, Marcus McGee , UD , 8 , Jun 24, 2005 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 43 , Win , 40–3 , align=left, Wallace McDaniel , TKO , 8, (8) , Apr 8, 2005 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 42 , Win , 39–3 , align=left, Charles Hatcher , TKO , 8 (8), , Feb 21, 2004 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 41 , Loss , 38–3 , align=left,

, TKO , 7 (10), , Jun 7, 2003 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 40 , Win , 38–2 , align=left, Gilbert Martinez , TKO , 8 (10), , Apr 18, 2003 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 39 , Win , 37–2 , align=left, Carlton Johnson , TKO , 5 (10) , Jan 24, 2003 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 38 , Win , 36–2 , align=left, James Walton , TKO , 4 (10) , Nov 7, 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 37 , Win , 35–2 , align=left, Robert Davis , TKO , 3 (10), , Aug 3, 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 36 , Win , 34–2 , align=left, Anthony Willis , TKO , 2 (10), , Jun 1, 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 35 , Win , 33–2 , align=left, Joe Lenhart , TKO , 5 (8), , Apr 13, 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 34 , Win , 32–2 , align=left, Reynaldo Minus , TKO , 4 (8), , Mar 9, 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 33 , Loss , 31–2 , align=left,

, TKO , 1 (10), , Jul 21, 2001 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 32 , Loss , 31–1 , align=left,

, KO , 2 (12), , Apr 29, 2000 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 31 , Win , 31–0 , align=left,

, TKO , 10 (12), , Nov 20, 1999 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 30 , Win , 30–0 , align=left,

, UD , 10 , Jun 19, 1999 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 29 , Win , 29–0 , align=left, Ahmed Abdin , RTD , 10 (12), , Jan 30, 1999 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 28 , Win , 28–0 , align=left,

, TKO , 9 (12), , May 30, 1998 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 27 , Win , 27–0 , align=left,

, TKO , 5 (12), , Jan 17, 1998 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 26 , Win , 26–0 , align=left,

, TKO , 1 (12), , Nov 7, 1997 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 25 , Win , 25–0 , align=left, Alfred Cole , RTD , 10 (12), , Jun 20, 1997 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 24 , Win , 24–0 , align=left, Lionel Butler , DQ , 4 (10), , Apr 19, 1997 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 23 , Win , 23–0 , align=left, Jeff Wooden , SD , 10 , Mar 14, 1997 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 22 , Win , 22–0 , align=left, Ray Anis , UD , 10 , Dec 6, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 21 , Win , 21–0 , align=left,

Louis Monaco Louis "The Facelifter" Monaco (born April 28, 1968) is a professional boxer in the heavyweight division and the former CAM (Canadian American Mexican) heavyweight champion. Nicknamed "The Facelifter," Monaco is a clubfighter who fought several s ...

, TKO , 3 (?) , Oct 6, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 20 , Win , 20–0 , align=left, Ross Puritty , UD , 10 , Jul 21, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 19 , Win , 19–0 , align=left, Ed Donaldson , TKO , 3 (10), , Jun 11, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 18 , Win , 18–0 , align=left, Olian Alexander , TKO , 4 (4) , May 10, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 17 , Win , 17–0 , align=left, Corey Sanders , TKO , 2 (8), , Mar 15, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 16 , Win , 16–0 , align=left, Rick Sullivan , TKO , 1 (6) , Jan 30, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 15 , Win , 15–0 , align=left, Bradley Rone , UD , 6 , Mar 12, 1996 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 14 , Win , 14–0 , align=left, Mike Dixon , TKO , 6 (?), , Dec 7, 1995 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 13 , Win , 13–0 , align=left, Tim Noble , TKO , 2 (6) , Nov 10, 1995 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 12 , Win , 12–0 , align=left, Stanley Wright , TKO , 2 (10) , Sep 22, 1995 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 11 , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Lou Turchiarelli , TKO , 1 (8), , May 20, 1995 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 10 , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Tyrone Dixon , TKO , 1 (?) , Dec 6, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 9 , Win , 9–0 , align=left, Danny Wofford , PTS , 8 , Dec 3, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 8 , Win , 8–0 , align=left, Steve Edwards , DQ , 5 (6), , Nov 5, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, John Basil Jackson , UD , 4 , Nov 1, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, Carlton Brown , KO , 1 (?) , Oct 22, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Ed Strickland , KO , 1 (?) , Oct 4, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Elvin Evans , TKO , 6 (?) , Sep 23, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Frankie Hines , KO , 1 (?) , Sep 6, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Jerome Jones , TKO , 2 (?) , Aug 7, 1994 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Ernest English , TKO , 1 (4) , Jul 21, 1994 , align=left, , , -align=center

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Michael 1972 births Living people American male boxers Boxers from Chicago Heavyweight boxers