Known more for his boxing prowess, Brant (19-0, 12 KOs) displayed impressive power. After a big first round, in which he threw 97 punches and more of the same in the second, Brant floored Perez with a straight-right shot midway through the third.
The Minnesota native kept on the gas in the fourth and landed another straight right that sent Perez falling straight back partially through the ropes. Perez (15-4-1, 5 KOs) awkwardly landed back into the ring and referee Rocky Burke instantly ended the fight at :39.
“The game plan was to be aggressive,” Brant said. “We knew we wanted to show him our power early and make him respect us right away. When I caught him with the right on the temple in the third I knew we had him. And then when I connected in the fourth it was lights out, game over. I just want to get back in the ring as soon as possible and continue making progress.”
Perez, who entered the fight coming off an impressive win over previously undefeated Juan Ubaldo Cabrera last August on ShoBox, said he just got caught with a good shot.
“I just got caught,” Perez said. That’s all that happened. I didn’t see the shot coming and he was speedier than I thought. He’s fast and he got me with something I wasn’t ready for.”
SHOWTIME analyst Steve Farhood was surprised by Brant’s performance.
“Brant showed a dimension we hadn’t seen before,” Farhood said. “He’s thinking man’s fighter who fought an angry fight. And, as result of that, you have to put him near the very top of the list of middleweight prospects.”
