Michael Grant: The Present

You know, in recent boxing history, there's been some pretty amazing reclamation projects. Guys like Glen Johnson, Oleg Maskaev, and even Wladimir Klitschko have all been totally written off by some only to return to greater success than they had previously enjoyed. I say this because I recently paid witness to such an attempt at a reclamation project. 

When touring through my upcoming programs, I noted with shock and surprise that Michael Grant's most recent fight against Paul Marinaccio was to be televised on some of the FSN affiliates. Naturally, I recorded it, and unlike so many of the other events that are shown in two hour blocks, actually viewed it (Jean Paul Mendy/Jason Naugler is among the others, to give you some idea). I skipped over the opener and got right to the meat and potatoes. By round 8 I fell asleep, but I reconvened the next day and picked it right back up again. 

What's been so apparent about those other comebacks is that the guys involved showed aspects that were entirely missing from earlier parts of their careers. Maskaev found the focus he needed just before his physical gifts fell totally apart. Johnson learned enough about how to not get killed coming in and was better than ever doing so, getting him to elevate from being lumped up by Derrick Harmon to knocking out Roy Jones. Wladimir Klitschko stowed away his offense and instead became robotically consistent with his piston jab and right hand combinations. Michael would probably need to show something along the lines of what Maskaev had, matching his brain to his physical abilities here at the end of the line physically for him. 

Instead, Grant is more gunshy than ever. You have to wonder how long it'll be before his promoters cash him out on ESPN2 fighting one of the lower end prospects in the game like Cedric Boswell or Donnell Holmes. To say that a guy who was, just a few short years ago, the HBO heir apparent is in such a position is disheartening but entirely accurate. The undersized southpaw he fought, a guy stopped by CHRIS BYRD, easily walked through Grant's limited arsenal and actually appeared to win at least 4-5 rounds. He might have won 6 of the 12 en route to losing, in large part due to knockdowns created by rabbit punching. 

That motivation, that want to win, that need to be better than his opponent: All of it was vacant. There was simply nothing that made him want to win. He's destined for something along the lines of Abraham/Taylor, IMO, and since Arreola's management is apparently claiming that Klitschko/Arreola is already set in stone for May 12th of next year, I guess using Grant in the capacity of punching bag isn't the worst idea in the world to hype the fight up. Looking at the rankings, I suppose I could get behind the fight along with a February setup card with both men in separate bouts (Klitschko would probably need a tomato can too: why not Maskaev or Chambers?), pull off the May fight, and then have Wlad take that fight with Povetkin in the fall, as they've both apparently been talking about now.