BOXING: BRANT TARGETS MURATA’S TITLE THIS SATURDAY

Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Robert “Bravo” Brant (23-1, 16 KO’s) will challenge WBA Middleweight titleholder Ryota Murata (14-1, 11 KO’s) this Saturday, October 20th at the Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will be streamed live on ESPN Plus. and start time listed for the title fight is 8:30 PM Central Time.

Brant (23-1, 16 KOs), of St. Paul, Minnesota, turned pro in 2012 following an amateur career that included a U.S. National Golden Gloves title in 2010. He captured the vacant NABA middleweight title on Jan. 22, 2016 with a one-punch knockout against DeCarlo Perez. In his most recent fight on March 9 in Hinckley, Minnesota, Brant returned to middleweight and knocked out Colby Courter in the first round. Brant, who resides in Texas, believes Murata is powerful and talented but not as diverse with his skillset. He believes that he will have the upper hand on Saturday night.

“I am very excited about my upcoming bout with Ryota Murata. This fight has been on my mind since before he fought Hassan N’Dam,” Brant said. “Though I respect all of his accomplishments, I have always felt as though I have all of the tools to clearly defeat him. Not only has it been a life goal of mine to be a world champion, but also to headline a card in Las Vegas at a major venue. I take none of this lightly. This means the world to me, and that will reflect on October 20.”

Murata (14-1, 11 KOs) is one of Japan’s most popular sporting stars, a crossover figure who captured Olympic gold at the 2012 Olympics in London. Following the Olympic gold medal and an amateur career that also included five Japanese national titles, Murata turned pro with great fanfare and graduated to scheduled 10-rounders by his fourth pro bout.

Murata’s lone loss was a highly controversial one. In front of his home fans at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum in May 2017, he dropped a 12-round split decision against Hassan N’Dam for the vacant WBA middleweight title. The WBA ordered an immediate rematch, and five months later, Murata stopped N’Dam in the seventh round, becoming only the second Japanese-born middleweight world champion in boxing history. He made his first title defense on April 15 in Yokohama, Japan, knocking out former European middleweight champion Emanuele Blandamura in the eighth round. The Blandamura fight drew a peak rating of 17 million viewers on Japanese television.

“It is the dream of all boxers to headline in Las Vegas, and for me, this is certainly a dream come true,” Murata said. “Rob Brant is an excellent opponent, and I will prepare my best to put on a great performance for all of the fans in Las Vegas and watching on ESPN+. I am only getting started as a world champion.”

The show is co-promoted by Top Rank, Teiken Promotions, Greg Cohen Promotions, and Rapacz Boxing. The co-feature has super lightweights Maxim Dadashev (11-0, 19 KO’s) of Saint Petersburg, Russia taking on Mexico’s Antonio DeMarco (33-6-1, 24 KO’s). Co-promoter Cory Rapacz of Fargo, ND says that Brant has had a fantastic training camp and looks forward to

“Rob is ready for this fight” said Rapacz. “From all accounts I’ve gotten, he’s had a fantastic camp and is in top form.  He’s actually had his entire camp in Las Vegas so he’s been there for almost two months now. The whole team is excited. It’s amazing to have a Minnesota born fighter headlining a world title fight in Las Vegas. That’s special. The rest of us, including myself, get in to Las Vegas Wednesday when Rob has his media workout, press conference Thursday and weigh ins on Friday.  It’s going to be here before we know it.  The fan support for Rob in Las Vegas is going to be fantastic as well.  I couldn’t believe the ticket amount that just Team Brant bought on day one of ticket sales.  We can’t wait to watch him put on the best performance of his career.  This is his time.”

2019 Update
“I hope Rob Brant’s rise is a great example for a lot of the up-and-coming fighters in the state” Rapacz continued. “There’s a lot of talent here that can hopefully replicate his success in the future.  We were patient with Rob’s career, he made the right training moves for himself, we had a ton of great support from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Grand Casino Hinckley and were able to build a great partnership with Greg Cohen Promotions.  Those same partners to Minnesota Boxing are still here today and looking towards 2019.  In the coming weeks I plan on being part of announcements for several planned events for 2019 as well as hopefully deliver news from some big meetings we have in Las Vegas this week pertaining to opportunities for Minnesota fighters.  The future is bright!”