Rob Brant successfully defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) Middleweight Title on home turf against Russian challenger Khasan Baysangurov with a dominating performance that included two knockdowns before referee Mark Nelson stopped the bout at the 1:42 mark of the eleventh round.
The bout took place at Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota, to a sellout crowd for the hometown champion. It was aired live on ESPN via Top Rank promotions.
Brant followed up on one of the most surprising performances of 2018 when he scored a huge upset victory over Ryota Murata and capture the 160 pound WBA regular title. Just like in his title winning victory, he held a high work rate against Baysangurov to dominate nearly every round in the fight.
Brant scored knockdowns in both the second and eleventh rounds, with the Russian challenger showing toughness and heart at only 21 heads of age as he dug deep to survive an early onslaught to press forward for the majority of the fight. His pressure was not enough to fool the champion, who was counterpunching and keeping a higher work rate to punish every step forward that Baysangurov took.
With the first successful defense of his title Brant now holds a professional record of 25 wins, 1 loss, and 17 knockouts, while Baysangurov took his first professional defeat, leaving his record at 17 wins, 1 loss, and 7 wins by knockout.
