Still perfect
Heavyweight Michael Grant runs record to 29-0
Posted: Sunday January 31, 1999 01:57 AM
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Crack: Heavyweight Michael Grant lands a left to the head of Ahmad Abdin AP |
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Unbeaten heavyweight Michael Grant put another notch in his belt Saturday, overpowering former sparring partner Ahmad Abdin and stopping him in the 10th round of their scheduled 12-rounder.
Grant, 29-0, of Norristown, Pa., knocked Abdin down with a vicious right uppercut to the body at the end of the ninth round, then came out set on putting him away in the 10th.
Early in the round, as Abdin charged toward Grant in a corner, Grant nailed him with an overhand right that dropped him again. Later in the round, he knocked Abdin down a third time with a left. Abdin got up at eight, after the bell had rang.
But referee Eddie Cotton, acting on the advice of ringside physician Dr. Kenneth Remsen, stopped the fight after the 10th.
Grant, 26, is considered one of the heavyweight division's most promising young fighters. At 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds, he is a towering presence in the ring and a difficult target because of his long reach.
Abdin, 26, of Houston, struggled to make contact early in the bout but gamely got in close and low after the third round. He had a bright red welt on his right temple before the first round was over.
Grant, meanwhile, dominated.
"I hurt my right hand early in the third round, so I tried not to use it for a couple of rounds. Then I recouped it in the eighth and ninth rounds. I wasn't worried. I'm a late finisher," he said.
Abdin, who dropped to 25-2-3, was hampered by a bad rib.
"I think Ahmad started out well but Grant walked him around the ring and eventually wore him down," said Bob Spagnola, Abdin's manager. "His rib had been bothering him during camp but we take nothing away from Grant. The turning point was when Grant started going to the body."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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