Rob Brant vs. Habib Ahmed - January 11, 2020 (OFF)

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release

Rob “Bravo” Brant’s quest to regain a world title will begin on the Boardwalk. Brant, a former middleweight world champion, will make his ring return against former super middleweight world title challenger Habib “Wild Hurricane” Ahmed Saturday, Jan 11 as the co-feature to the Jesse Hart-Joe Smith Jr. main event at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena (ESPN & streaming on the ESPN App (Spanish), 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

Brant is fighting for the first time losing his belt via second-round stoppage to Ryota Murata, the man he upset to win the WBA middleweight title in October 2018. Following the Murata defeat, Brant enlisted the services of trainer/manager Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and has been training alongside pound-for-pound king Terence “Bud” Crawford, WBO junior lightweight world champion Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring and former junior welterweight world champion Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker.

“I am excited to be back fighting under the Top Rank banner with a new team,” Brant said. “Training in Colorado Springs has shown me what it’s like to work with a coaching staff that have mastered their craft. I am expecting a tough fight with Ahmed, as he has proven to be a dangerous Ghanaian fighter. I’m confident my team will train me to showcase my talent. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought about regaining my title. None of that happens until I conquer the task at hand. I will reign again as a world champion.”

“This is a great opportunity to prove I am a middleweight to watch,” Ahmed said. “Super middleweight was not my natural weight, and I feel fresher and more powerful since moving down in weight. Rob Brant and his team made the wrong choice for a comeback opponent. I am coming to shock the boxing world and earn another world title shot.”

Brant (25-2, 17 KOs), from St. Paul, Minn., authored one of the biggest upsets of 2018 when he bested Murata over 12 scintillating rounds in Las Vegas. He threw 1,262 punches that evening and followed up his title-winning effort with a dominant 11th-round TKO over Khasan Baysangurov in Hinckley, Minn. In July, he traveled to Osaka, Japan, and Murata flipped the script, engaging in a toe-to-toe battle that lasted 5 minutes, 34 seconds. Murata landed 64 power punches in the second round before referee Luis Pabon stopped the bout.

Ahmed (27-1-1, 18 KOs), from Accra, Ghana, is best known for his February 2018 title challenge against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, which ended via sixth-round TKO defeat. He moved down to middleweight in May, notching a shutout eight-round decision over Juan De Angel in Biloxi, Miss. Ahmed has been training in Miami recently and has sparred with the likes of former world champion Andre Dirrell.

The ESPN+ undercard stream, which begins at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, will include the following bouts:

The fighting Adorno brothers will once again appear on the same undercard. Older brother Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno (14-0, 12 KOs) will face Hector Garcia (14-7-3, 8 KOs) in an eight-round lightweight bout, while 18-year-old Jeremy “Magic Hands” Adorno (3-0, 1 KO) will battle Artrimus Sartor (4-3, 1 KO) in a four-rounder at super bantamweight.

South Jersey native Chris “Sandman” Thomas (13-1-1, 8 KOs) will fight for the sixth time as a pro in Atlantic City versus Samir Barbosa (37-16-3, 26 KOs) in a six-rounder at super middleweight.

Shinard Bunch (4-1, 4 KOs), the fighting pride of Trenton, N.J., will take on Dennis Okoth (4-2-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round welterweight tilt. Bunch’s only defeat came via close decision in August to unbeaten prospect Paul Kroll.

Heavyweight prospect Sonny “The Bronco” Conto (5-0, 4 KOs), who hails from South Philadelphia, will make his Atlantic City debut in a four-rounder against an opponent to be named.

Xander Zayas (2-0, 2 KOs), the 17-year-old welterweight fresh off a first-round TKO Nov. 30 in Las Vegas, will see action in a four-rounder against Antonio Duarte (2-2, 0 KOs). Zayas, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, won 11 national amateur titles before signing a pro contract with Top Rank at the age of 16.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Star Boxing, tickets priced at $100, $60, $40 and $25 (not including applicable fees) are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting www.ticketmaster.com and www.hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Rob Brant withdraws from Jan. fight vs. Habib Ahmed with torn biceps

Just a few days after Top Rank announced that former middleweight world titlist Rob Brant would face former super middleweight world title challenger Habib "Wild Hurricane" Ahmed in the co-feature of its Jan. 11 ESPN card, Brant withdrew Monday because of torn biceps.

With Brant out and the fight off, Top Rank announced that Steve Nelson would face Cem Kilic in a 10-round match between undefeated super middleweights in place of Brant-Ahmed on the card headlined by a light heavyweight bout between contenders Jesse Hart and Joe Smith Jr.

The show will take place at Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET, with preliminary bouts streaming on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET).

Nelson and Kilic, who will square off for a vacant regional title, were originally scheduled to meet on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York in a preliminary bout on the undercard of Terence Crawford's mandatory welterweight title defense against "Mean Machine" Egidijus Kavaliauskas, but the fight was moved to replace Brant-Ahmed.

Nelson (15-0, 12 KOs), 31, who like Crawford is from Omaha, Nebraska, and trained by Brian McIntyre, is excited to have a bigger spotlight with the fight higher up on the televised card.

"This is one of those moments. When this opportunity presented itself, I knew I had to take it," said Nelson, a 2012 U.S. Olympic alternate. "I compare this to when Terence Crawford got the late call to fight Breidis Prescott on HBO. He took advantage of that opportunity, and I am going to take advantage of the ESPN spotlight."

The Los Angeles-based Germany native, Kilic (14-0, 9 KOs), 25, was also happy with the unexpected turn of events.

"While I'm disappointed not to fight on the Dec. 14 card, I am beyond excited to showcase my talent to an even bigger audience just four weeks later on ESPN," Kilic said. "I have been working hard in Florida with [trainer] Buddy McGirt so all sports fans can see the best Cem Kilic on fight night."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Would have been a good scrap

[Ron C]

Bummer that this fight got cancelled

[Ruthless-RKO]

Bummer that this fight got cancelled

Literally 2 days after the official press release. He had to pull out.

[Ron C]

Damn I hope they reschedule. This was supposed to be for who gets to fight Jermall Charlo next. Habib Ahmed vs. Gilberto Ramirez was a poor representation of Habib’s talent. Habib should’ve been at 160 all along and you see Zurdo is at 175 now. I think Habib will have a lot more success at 160. Plus he’s been with Herman Caicedo for a little over a year now