KEVIN BRYANT, Hard-punching U. S. Army Star of the 1980's

[williefromrichmond]

KEVIN BRYANT

Born April 21, 1959

Bronx, New York, and U. S. Army

6’ 3” 156-165

Began boxing 1978

1982

xxxx - V Corps light-middleweight champion.

xxxx - USAREUR light-middleweight champion.

Nov./Dec. - U. S. All-Army light-middleweight champion; Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

Dec. 13 - John Jackson (Seattle) W pts 3-2
Dec. 14 - Adam Garland (Plainfield, New Jersey) W rsc 2
Dec. 15 - Frank Tate (Detroit) L pts 0-5
U. S. Amateur Boxing Federation (winter) light-middleweight semifinalist; Indianapolis, Indiana. “’When the [final] bell rang, I knew I’d lost,’ said Bryant. ‘It was a good experience. It makes me go back to the drawing board and train harder. After the fight, I asked [Tate] how many fights he’d had and he said 111. He’d been fighting since he was 13. I ain’t had but 28 fights and I started at 19’” (European Stars and Stripes 1-21-83:25).

1983

Feb. 19 - Anton Josipovic L rsc 1
U. S. vs. Yugoslavia; Rijeka, Yugoslavia.

Apr. - V Corps light-middleweight champion.

xxxx - USAREUR light-middleweight champion.

Oct. 1 - His record: 28-5 (European Stars and Stripes 10-1-83:25).

Oct. 6 - Emilio Amantine W
Oct. 8 - Albert Brewer W
U. S. All-Army light-middleweight champion; Augsburg, Germany. “Bryant and Brewer slugged their way through three rounds with Bryant decisioning the bloody Brewer.... Brewer tried working his way inside in the first round, but was held off by Bryant’s effective jabs. Brewer then came out aggressively in the second round, landing a straight right and going into a clinch with Bryant. The two traded blows, with Bryant connecting to the head and body. Brewer was gushing blood from his mouth after the second round, but came out boldly for the last one. Bryant concentrated on his mouth and Brewer worked on the body. Bryant opened up Brewer’s nose, then knocked him down with a left hook. After Brewer took the standing eight-count, Bryant continued scoring with jabs for the rest of the bout” (European Stars and Striped 10-9-83:19).

Oct. 20 - Timothy Wlliams (Marines)
Oct. 22 -
U. S. Interservice light-middleweight champion; Mannheim, Germany.

1984

Feb. 16-19 - USAREUR Select vs. Swedish Select (invitational tournament); Kristianstad, Sweden.

xxxx - V Corps light-middleweight champion.

Ap. 29 - Pierre Ingram W ko 2
USAREUR light-middleweight champion; Wuerzburg, Germany. “Bryant punished Ingram’s head and body, sending him down twice for standing eight-counts, then punishing him until the first round ended. In the second round, he landed a left jab and short straight right to send Ingram to the mat and finish the contest” (European Stars and Stripes 4-30-84:23).

xxxx - U. S. All-Army champion.

xxxx - U. S. Interservice champion.

xxxx - Bryant shipped to Ft. Hood, Texas.

June 7 - Danny Trujillo (Rock Springs, Wyoming) W rsc 3
June 9 - Ron Essett (Indianapolis) L pts 1-4
U. S. Olympic Trials light-middleweight semifinalist; Ft. Worth. “Essett, who punches very well moving backwards, scored a 4-1 decision over Bryant” (European Stars and Stripes 6-12-84:25).

Nov. 4 - Willett Baker (Adelphie, Maryland) W pts 5-0
Nov. 5 - Frank Liles (Syracuse) W rsc 2
Nov. 6 - Peter Niccoli (Golden, Colorado) W rsc 2
Nov. 8 - Alphonso Bailey (Louisville) W rsc 1
“Bryant ... finished off Bailey at the 2:27 mark of the opening round following a barrage of punches that resulted in three standing eight-counts” (European Stars and Stripes 11-11-84:25).
*Nov. 9 - Ray McElroy (Long Beach, California) W rsc 1
U. S. National light-middleweight champion; Indianapolis. “McElroy ran from Bryant’s right hand - and wound up getting drilled with the left. The first one forced a standing eight and the second left McElroy so spaghetti-legged that the referee stopped the bout at 2:30 of the first round” (Indianapolis Star 11-10-84).

1985

Mch. 13 - Julio Quintana (Cuba) W pts 5-0
“Bryant ... took the first two rounds of a slugfest with Quintana. He then beat back Quintana’s desperate third-round bid to win a popular 5-0 decision” (European Stars and Stripes 3-14-85:22).
Mch. 14 - Lofti Ayed (Sweden) L pts
Mestre Tournament middleweight quarterfinalist; Venice, Italy.

June 22 - Ferenc Schubert W ret 1
U. S. vs. Hungary; ________, Hungary.

Aug. 2 - Timothy Littles (Flint, Michigan) W pts 4-1
*Aug. 4 - Mylon Watkins (Tacoma) W rsc 3
U. S. National Sports Festival light-middleweight champion; Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Bryant knocked Watkins to the canvas four times, finally forcing the referee to stop the fight at 1:42 of the third round. Watkins spent the entire fight trying to backpedal away from Bryant, but Bryant relentlessly chased and clobbered his retreating opponent” (Huntingdon [Pennsylvania] Daily News 8-5-85:4).

Aug. 15 - Randall Thompson (Canada) W ko 1
Aug. 17 - Nelson Adams (Puerto Rico) W ret 2
North American light-middleweight champion; Beaumont, Texas. “Bryant was flailing away at Adams in a neutral corner when [Adams’ coach] threw in the towel ... at 1:45 of the second round” (European Stars and Stripes 8-19-85:25).

*Nov. 4 - Ahn Dal-Ho (South Korea) W rsc 1
“Bryant stopped Ahn at 2:27 of the first round after flooring him twice” (New Mexican [Santa Fe] 11-5-85:B-3).
*Nov. 6 - Park Si-Hun (South Korea) L pts 1-4
World Cup light-middleweight finalist; Seoul, South Korea. “Park outpointed Bryant, who scored two early knockdowns with powerful right hooks and another in the third round, but apparently lost points when he was penalized in the second round. Park rallied in the third round despite a final-minute standing knockdown” (European Stars and Stripes 11-8-85:23).

1986

U. S. All-Army champion

Apr. 2 -
Apr. 4 - Thomas Tate (Houston)
U. S. National light-middleweight semifinalist; Beaumont, Texas.

*May 9 - Enrico Richter (East Germany) L pts 0-5
World light-middleweight participant (lost in first series of the competition); Indianapolis, Indiana. “Bryant apparently was overconfident and lost a decisive 5-0 decision to Richter, a veteran of 185 amateur bouts.... Richter, a surprise replacement for Michael Timm, ... came on strong in the second and third rounds, several times snapping Bryant’s head back with a powerful right hook en route to his surprisingly-easy victory. ‘[Bryant] went from boxing to protect himself,’ Kenny Adams, Bryant’s coach, said. ‘I thought he would control the bout completely, but he didn’t take charge....’” (European Stars and Stripes 5-10-86:25).

1987

Jan. - Shipped back to Baumholder, Germany.

xxxx - Reuben Estrello W rsc 1
V Corps middleweight champion. (European Stars and Stripes 5-15-87:23).

May 15 - “Two doors are open for me.’ said Bryant. ‘I can stay in the Army and retire. Or I can win the gold [at the Olympics] in ‘88 and hope something happens for me’” (European Stars and Stripes 5-15-87:23). He stayed in the Army and retired.

May 16 -
May 17 - Garry Grant W w/o
USAREUR middleweight champion; Neu-Ulm, Germany. “’Bryant wasn’t even going to let the fight be close. He was going to show everyone what he could really do. He was looking forward to the Olympics,’ said Grant, who refused to fight. ‘I couldn’t beat him, and I admitted it. Why do in there and take a pounding? I just couldn’t face losing to him, that’s all. I was satisfied with the decision I had made’” (European Stars and Stripes 10-7-88:26).

July 8 - Markus Bott W 2-1
U. S. Select vs. West German Select; West Berlin, West Germany. (European Stars and Stripes) 7-13-87:25).

July 10 - Thorston Spurgen W 3-0
U. S. Select vs. West German Select; Peissenberg, West Germany. “Bryant jabbed his way to a 3-0 decision over Spurgen” (European Stars and Stripes 7-13-87:25).

Sept. 2 - Wolfgang Mueller (Austria) W rsc 1
(European Stars and Stripes 9-4-87:25).

Sept. 3 - Gerd Kuhne (German No. 1 Team) W ret 2
USAREUR vs. two West German teams and an Austrian team (invitational international tournament); Nuehausen, Germany.“Bryant trashed Kuhne, resulting in the German corner tossing in the white linen in round two” (European Stars and Stripes 9-5-87:25).

Nov. 26 - Otis Grant (Canada) L pts 2-3
Copenhagen Cup middleweight ________; Copenhagen, Denmark.

COMMENTS: “One of the best but ... sometimes forgotten boxers from the 1980’s or any other era (probably because he never turned professional) was ... Kevin Bryant, who fought for the U. S. Army by way of The Bronx, New York. Bryant at 156 pounds, at six foot one and carrying power in both hands, was a legitimate threat to any light-middleweight in amateur history, including a guy by the name of Roy Jones, Jr.” By Iceman John Scully.