World Boxing News looks at the astounding boxing record of an American heavyweight who lost a trilogy of bouts in 180 seconds.
The curious case of Brandon Barnes continues to dumbfound as WBN initially covered the heavyweight anomaly in 2022.
At the time, Barnes had just lost twice to the same opponent three months apart in a total of 144 seconds. But digging deeper into Barnes’ CV, there’s a third defeat.
Two months before the first of his double loss to Malik Titus, Barnes competed in his boxing debut against Desmond Thompson. The outcome was pretty much the same as Barnes got halted in the first round.
Giving away 140 pounds to the mammoth, Thompson got the job done in a career-record 36 seconds for Barnes. Astonishingly, Barnes lasted only five seconds longer against Titus before securing over 60 seconds in the rematch.
Heavyweight loses three times
For what seems to have been his final fight against Titus in February 2022, the behemoth weighed another benchmark of 371 pounds. Boxing just wasn’t the five-foot nine-inch competitor’s forte, but not for want of trying.
Remarkably, Barnes was granted a license for his second bout against Titus. How he was touted to complete, let alone be allowed to fight the same man who blasted him out in 41 seconds weeks later, is something.
In addition, the fact that the first fight occurred at Southpaw Center and the second down the road at Emmett Scott Center [both in Rock Hill, South Carolina] and under the same jurisdiction is an eye-opener.
Plenty of other cases in the same ilk of Barnes exist. You only have to look at the heavyweight rankings of over 1400 active heavyweights.
The curious case of Brandon Barnes
Records of 0-9 with nine stoppages and more make for painful reading – such is the nature of the beast. Boxing’s glamor division needs those knockover opponents to keep the up-and-comers active. However, many anomalies like Barnes go undetected or unaffected despite the authorities in place.
Indeed, it’s not rocket science that a boxer who got stopped early on shouldn’t be back in the ring within weeks. Higher-profile bouts have provisions in place, but looking at the fact Barnes fought three times in seven months, those were not adhered to despite not being the promoter‘s fault.
Averaging a minute per fight is horrific enough until you add in the sheer size of Barnes and his ability to move around the ring. Sadly, this is one of the downsides to the sport we love.
The safety of those who put their lives on the line becomes an afterthought.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
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