Brian Brunette is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1986, challenging for the WBA light welterweight title in 1986.

Professional career

Brunette made his professional debut on July 7, 1980 with a second round knockout of Wayne Grant on the undercard of the Larry Holmes-Scott LeDoux match at Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. Brunette won his first 23 fights, 17 of them by knockout.[1]

On September 6, 1986, Brunette squared off against undefeated champion Patrizio Oliva in Campania, Italy for Oliva's WBA light welterweight title. Brunette lost via third-round technical knockout (TKO) in a scheduled fifteen round bout, when, his manager (his brother, Tom) stepped in to protect him from a hail of lefts and rights by Oliva.[2] He received a reported $14,500 for the fight.[3]

Three months later Brunette returned to the ring for one last fight, defeating middleweight Billy Travers by fifth-round TKO. It was his final professional fight, as he retired at the age of 28 with a record of 24-1 with 18 wins coming by knockout.[4]

He was managed by his brother Tommy and trained by his brother Bob.[1]

Professional boxing record

24 Wins (18 knockouts, 6 decisions), 1 Loss (1 knockout, 0 decisions) [4] Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes Win -- Billy Travers TKO 5 26/12/1986 Key West High School, Key West, Florida, U.S. Referee stopped the bout at 0:28 of the fifth round. Loss 46-0 Patrizio Oliva TKO 3 06/09/1986 Napoli, Italy WBA Light Welterweight Title. Bout stopped at 2:38 of the third round after Brunette's manager jumped into the ring to protect fighter from punishment. Win 32-12-2 Ezequiel Sanchez KO 7 13/05/1986 Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S. Win -- Lalo Gimenez KO 3 31/01/1986 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. Lalo knocked out at 1:22 of the third round. Win 0-2 Jim Freeman TKO 3 26/12/1985 Turnberry Isle Resort and Club, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. Referee stopped the bout at 2:10 of the third round. Win 9-8 Steve Mitchell UD 10 10/09/1985 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 15-2 Ken Larson TKO 2 29/05/1985 Holiday Star Theater, Merrillville, Indiana, U.S. Win 13-2-1 Rudy Fuentes KO 2 22/11/1984 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Fuentes knocked out at 1:10 of the second round. Win 13-9-3 Trevor Evelyn PTS 10 08/08/1984 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 0-3 Greg Collins KO 1 13/05/1984 Highland, Indiana, U.S. Win 22-4 Gary Holmgren SD 10 01/02/1984 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Minnesota Light Middleweight Title. Win 63-43-4 Bruce Strauss TKO 6 08/12/1983 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 10-12-1 Larry Mayes TKO 2 26/10/1983 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 0-9 Billy Doyle KO 2 26/08/1983 Belcourt, North Dakota, U.S. Win 9-4-2 Mike Pollitt TKO 4 23/07/1983 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win -- Steve Roake KO 2 07/05/1983 Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. Win 4-16 Tony Akbar Taylor TKO 5 12/11/1981 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 2-7-2 Larry Ward PTS 8 06/05/1981 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 0-5-1 Nate Lenoir KO 2 26/02/1981 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 8-18-2 Charlie Peterson PTS 6 21/01/1981 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Win 1-18 Dale Gordon PTS 4 09/12/1980 Warren, Ohio, U.S. Win 0-1 Darrell Ned Miller TKO 2 11/11/1980 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Referee stopped the bout at 2:06 of the second round. Win 1-1 Donnie Williams KO 1 23/09/1980 Atkinson Hotel, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. Win -- Rocky Trampler KO 2 24/07/1980 St. James Civic Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Win 0-1 Wayne Grant KO 2 07/07/1980 Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S.

Personal life

Brunette is a member of the Brunette family of boxers, three brothers who are co-proprietors of Brunette's Boxing Gym in Saint Paul. Brian Brunette is the business manager for the gym.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Moton, Tony (May 14, 1986). "Brunette knocks out Sanchez in Round 7". Star Tribune. p. 41. Retrieved February 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Patrizio Oliva of Italy, World Boxing Assn". Los Angeles Times. 7 September 1986.
  3. ^ "Brunette's dream dashed in three". Star Tribune. September 7, 1986. p. 43. Retrieved February 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Boxing record for Brian Brunette from BoxRec (registration required)
  5. ^ Display news[permanent dead link]

External links

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