Knocked down four times in losing on a second-round technical knockout by Lewis, Grant saw his star potential ebb rapidly thereafter, nearly flickering out when he was stopped in seven rounds by fringe contender Dominick Guinn on June 7, 2003, in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.
Now 38 and still an impressive physical specimen, Grant (46-3, 34 KOs), a Chicago native who has long lived in this area (Norristown previously and now Blue Bell), makes what could be his last grab for the brass ring when he takes on Poland's Tomasz Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs) on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Adamek's minor IBF International and NABO titles will be on the line in the scheduled 12-rounder.
Although Grant enters with an eight-bout winning streak, those victories have come against second- and third-tier opponents, of which the 33-year-old Adamek, a former WBC light-heavyweight and IBF cruiserweight champion, definitely is not. Since moving up from cruiser, Adamek has defeated a better class of heavyweights in Andrew Golota, Jason Estrada and Chris Arreola.
Not that any of that impresses Grant.
"The only time I trained harder than this is when I fought Lennox Lewis, so this is how I know things are lining up for me to be victorious," said Grant, whose new trainer is former WBA light-heavyweight champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.
Uh, Mike, maybe references to your wipeout by Lewis aren't the most appropriate under the circumstances.
Steward to help Chambers
Hall of Fame trainer
Emanuel Steward was in
Wladimir Klitschko's corner on March 20, when the IBF/WBO heavyweight champion retained his titles on a 12th-round knockout of Philadelphia-based challenger
Eddie Chambers, in Dusseldorf, Germany.
