Jab Hook’s Epilogue for the Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota
Rob Brant vs. Khasan Baysangurov
“Bravo” to Rob Brant as he continues to prove his relevance as a boxer moving up the middleweight food chain toward the tasty cinnamon pastry at top. Brilliantly executing his now patented high-volume offensive strategy, Brant came out fast and seemed to be trying to match his amazing punch output of 1262 punches that got him the WBA middleweight pseudo-championship vs Murata (WBA has 2 “champs”, add IBF+WBC+WBO = 5 middleweight “champs”? Impossible in Jab’s boxing book!)
Though only 21yo, Khasan Baysangurov is a veteran boxer who had never been down or beaten until he had the luck of landing this match-up. Why luck? Because “Bravo” taught him so much in this bout, backing him up with a punching vocabulary that he will never forget. That double-jab in his face, and Brant’s right to his head in the 2nd round punched the Russian’s ticket for his 1st trip down to the canvas.
Khasan used Brant’s domination as baptism of fire, proving his toughness and the depth of his heart as tried to rally in the 3rd round. Fighting most of the bout with a nasty nose injury and its associated breathing trouble, the Kiev-based Russian failed to win a single round. But he was still able to prove he is a disciplined, focused, durable boxer who cannot be mentally broken.
When Baysangurov again gathered himself and launched his counter-attack in the 10th, Rob Brant knew his opponent would never fold. So he upped the ante and got mean in the next round, punctuating the boxing grammar lesson with a full stop that was made possible by a steady onslaught of fists across every minute of every round.
Jab correctly picked the late round (11th) TKO winner.
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Joshua Greer vs. Giovanni Escaner
In his biggest test yet, Joshua Greer Jr started kinda shaky in the opening rounds. Then “Don’t Blink” blinked, and Giovanni Escaner dropped him with a right cross a split second after the bell ending round 3. “The Little Giant” was able to back Greer Jr up and looked good early in the bout. But Joshua followed his corner’s instructions and remained focused on the task at hand. Working his way back into the bout, he finished the show with a nasty right uppercut to the solar plexus. The smaller they are they are, the crueler they fall! It was over for the “Little Giant” in the 8th round.
Jab Hook foresaid the late round stoppage for JG Jr.
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Mikaela Mayer vs. Yareli Larios
Mikaela Mayer had her hands full with Yareli Larios as the lightweight ladies lost the lace for the leather and showed the boys how NOT to play nice for 8 grueling rounds. The 20 yo Mexican boxer closed the 1st round with a nasty left hook flush to Mayer’s face, unsettling the American and giving her something to think about between rounds.
Mikaela did it the hard way and Larios accommodated her round after grinding round. Using her size and controlling the distance, Mayer kept busy going to the body like an angry refrain. But Yareli Larios would not join the sing-a-long, preferring to slam-dance her way to winning a few rounds in a losing effort. Mayer wins by unanimous decision.
Jab got the winner right, but had expected a TKO.
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Lennox Allen vs. Derrick Webster
Derrick Webster’s account was overdrawn and Lennox Allen came to collect. Allen took almost every round and dropped Webster down to the deck like a heavy wordbook on the bell ending the 3rd round. Webster reanimated in the 7th to take the round, but could do no more as fight wore on to the end. Lennox Allen added another chapter to Webster’s book of losses titled Unanimous Decision Domination.
Jab was not being very Brooklyn when picked against the winner. He promises to think twice before he again fails to support a fellow New Yorker.
That made Hook’s picks 3 of 4 for the Grand Casino Card.
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Jab Hook’s 2019 predictions: 19 of 23 correct on February 17th = 82.6%
(2018: 92 of 112 correct = 82.1%, to date 111 of 135 correct = 82.2_%)
Check NYFights.com this week for more good stuff from Jab Hook
“Jab Hook”, aka “Brooklyn” Joe Healy is a boxing expert commentator for DAZN.de, a professional cutman from the BOXWERK gym, and a licensed referee/judge in amateur boxing. A lifelong aficionado born in Brooklyn and living in Munich, “The Sweet Science” is his passion. Please feel free to contact him as Jab Hook on FaceBook, at AficionadoKO@gmail.com, or on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoxAficionado…
