Tyrone Brunson (boxer)

Tyrone Brunson (born January 29, 1985) is an American professional boxer, notable for holding the record of the most consecutive first-round knockouts for over 6 years (8 March 2008 – 6 July 2014).

Tyrone Brunson
Born (1985-01-29) January 29, 1985 (age 39)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other namesYoung Gun
Statistics
Weight(s)Light middleweight
Middleweight
Height5 ft 9+12 in (177 cm)
Reach76+12 in (194 cm)
Boxing record
Total fights38
Wins28
Wins by KO25
Losses8
Draws2

Amateur career

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Brunson hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and comes from a long line of middleweight boxers from the city. His amateur career extended over 90 fights, finishing with a record of 82–12.[1]

Professional career

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Brunson turned professional in 2005 with a KO victory over Kevin Carey in a fight which lasted just 25 seconds. He had 7 more fights that year, all of which ended in 1st-round KO victories for Brunson. As with his debut 4 of those fights lasted less than 30 seconds, with his quickest victory coming in just 17 seconds against Terry Rork.

Brunson's KO streak continued into 2006, where in his first fight of the year he defeated James Morrow for the Mid American middleweight title.

On June 24, 2017, Brunson scored the biggest win of his career against seasoned veteran Kermit Cintron, a respected and dangerous puncher. In Philly's Fight of the Year, Brunson overcame two knockdowns to put Cintron on the floor three times to win by KO.

Chasing the record

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By early 2007 Brunson's record had improved to 14–0, with all of his victories coming in the 1st round, and he was closing in on the unofficial North American record for consecutive 1st-round KOs held by Arthur "Young Otto" Susskind, who was credited with 15 consecutive 1st-round KO victories in the early 20th century. The major difference between Brunson's and Otto's streaks is that Brunson's began with his pro debut whereas Otto's streak did not start until well into his pro career.

On March 9, 2007, he equaled Otto's record when he KO'd David Johnson after 52 seconds of the 1st round. Brunson's record equaling effort was almost foiled due to a bizarre accident: Early in the bout Johnson managed to get tangled up with referee Dale Grable, which caused him to fall and injure his ankle. Despite only being able to limp around the ring he indicated to the referee that he wished to continue and the bout restarted. A few seconds later Johnson was legitimately knocked down with a barrage of punches from Brunson. This time he decided that his ankle injury was too painful and chose not to continue. As the second knockdown was as a result of a punch and not a slip the referee ruled the bout a TKO victory for Brunson (Had Johnson decided his ankle injury was too severe to continue when it first happened, the bout would have been ruled a No Contest).

Brunson claimed the North American record as his own on May 5, 2007, by KO’ing Tony Watson after just 100 seconds of the 1st round, moving his record to a perfect 16–0. The next milestone in his sights was the world record held by Edwin Valero of Venezuela with 18 consecutive 1st-round KOs. Brunson equalled Valero's total with a victory over Jamie Waru at the Sky City Casino in Auckland, New Zealand on June 8, 2007, and on March 8, 2008, recorded his record-breaking 19th consecutive 1st-round KO when he defeated Francis McKechnai in just 72 seconds at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Michigan.

On 15 August 2008 Brunson's run of consecutive 1st-round KO victories was brought to a halt at 19 when, in his 20th pro fight, he was held to a draw in a 6-round contest against Mexican journeyman Antonio Soriano.[2] The decision was greeted with a chorus of boos from the attending audience, who felt that Soriano had done enough to gain the victory [3]

On December 4, 2009, Brunson fought Carson Jones. Brunson had a great first two rounds (of a 10-round fight) sticking Jones with hard, straight jabs. His luck changed in the third round. Jones hit Brunson with a great combo, knocking him down for the first time in his career. Jones continued to pound on Brunson until Brunson was no longer defending himself, the referee then stopped the match, declaring Jones the winner by TKO.

On November 10, 2013, Yemeni minimumweight Boxer Ali Raymi broke Brunson's record by scoring his 20th consecutive first-round knockout.

On October 31, 2015, Brunson suffered a decision loss to undefeated prospect Caleb Plant in A PBC Undercard.

Criticism

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The main criticism leveled at Brunson by some boxing pundits and fans [4][5][6] is the extremely poor level of opposition he has faced while making his way to the record.[7] In contrast with Valero, whose first 18 opponents had a combined record of 112-102-17 (1.1 win rate), the combined record of Brunson's opponents was just 60-94-8 (0.6 win rate). Furthermore, of those 18 opponents just 1 had a winning record and 6 had failed to win a single fight in their careers.

2017 resurgence

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After suffering from a string of consecutive losses (2014–2015), Brunson scored two consecutive upset wins in 2017 against Brandon Quarles & former IBF Welterweight World Champion Kermit Cintron.[8]

Professional boxing record

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37 fights 28 wins 7 losses
By knockout 25 4
By decision 3 3
Draws 2
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
34 Win 26–6–2   Manny Woods RTD 8 (10), 3:00 Dec 1, 2017   Arena VFG, Guadalajara, Mexico Won vacant UBF International super welterweight title
33 Win 25–6–2   Kermit Cintron KO 5 (10), 1:21 Jun 24, 2017   2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Won vacant USA Pennsylvania State super welterweight title
32 Win 24–6–2   Brandon Quarles SD 8 Mar 11, 2017   Palenque de la Feria, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico
31 Draw 23–6–2   Ismael Garcia SD 8 Oct 14, 2016   Tepic, Mexico
30 Win 23–6–1   Carlos Garcia Hernandez KO 4 (8), 0:45 Aug 5, 2016   Auditorio Siglo XXI, Puebla, Mexico
29 Loss 22–6–1   Caleb Plant UD 8 Oct 31, 2015   Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Mexico
28 Loss 22–5–1   Dennis Hogan UD 10 Apr 17, 2015   Xcaret Park, Cancún, Mexico For vacant NBA-NABA USA super welterweight title
27 Loss 22–4–1   Tony Harrison TKO 1 (8), 1:02 Dec 20, 2014   Gimnasio Niños Héroes, Tepic, Mexico
26 Loss 22–3–1   Decarlo Perez TKO 5 (8), 2:29 Oct 18, 2014   Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Mexico
25 Win 22–2–1   Hansel Mateo KO 1 (6), 1:33 Jun 1, 2014   Foro Scotiabank, Mexico City, Mexico
24 Loss 21–2–1   James de la Rosa UD 8 Feb 23, 2012   Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, Miami, Florida, U.S.
23 Loss 21–1–1   Carson Jones TKO 3 (10), 2:39 Dec 4, 2009   Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California, U.S.
22 Win 21–0–1   Jose Medina KO 3 (10), 1:31 Nov 7, 2009   Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Mexico
21 Win 20–0–1   Marcos Primera UD 8 Oct 2, 2009   Palenque Calle 2, Zapopan, Mexico
20 Draw 19–0–1   Antonio Soriano MD 6 Aug 15, 2008   Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.
19 Win 19–0   Francis McKechnai TKO 1 (4), 1:12 Mar 9, 2008   Salon Marbet Plus, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico
18 Win 18–0   Jamie Waru TKO 1 (4), 2:56 Jun 8, 2007   Coliseo Olimpico de la UG, Guadalajara, Mexico
17 Win 17–0   Lee Hunter KO 1 (4), 0:59 Jun 4, 2007   Salon Marbet Plus, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico
16 Win 16–0   Tony Watson KO 1 (4), 1:40 May 5, 2007   Auditorio Benito Juarez, Guadalajara, Mexico
15 Win 15–0   David Johnson TKO 1 (4), 0:52 Mar 9, 2007   Coliseo Olímpico, Guadalajara, Mexico
14 Win 14–0   Kirk Douglas KO 1 (4), 2:13 Feb 9, 2007   Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Mexico
13 Win 13–0   Guy Packer KO 1 (4), 2:24 Sep 15, 2006   Casino de los Fresnos, Tepic, Mexico
12 Win 12–0   Chris Grays TKO 1 (6), 1:23 Jul 1, 2006   Auditorio Benito Juarez, Guadalajara, Mexico
11 Win 11–0   Charles Dalton KO 1 (6), 0:30 Jun 3, 2006   Arena-Casino Los Fresnos, Tepic, Mexico
10 Win 10–0   Terry Johnson TKO 1 (6), 1:10 Apr 8, 2006   Casino Los Fresnos, Tepic, Mexico
9 Win 9–0   James Morrow TKO 1 (8), 1:04 Feb 4, 2006   Arena Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico
8 Win 8–0   Ian Rumler TKO 1 (6), 1:39 Dec 17, 2005   Tonalá, Mexico
7 Win 7–0   Bill Tipton TKO 1 (6), 2:15 Nov 19, 2005   Guadalajara, Mexico
6 Win 6–0   Joe Harrison KO 1 (4), 0:21 Oct 7, 2005   Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Mexico
5 Win 5–0   Antonio Scott TKO 1 (4), 1:44 Aug 27, 2005   Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez Moreno, Tijuana, Mexico
4 Win 4–0   Terry Rork KO 1 (6), 0:17 Aug 20, 2005   Men's Club, Guadalajara, Mexico
3 Win 3–0   Demiko Moore KO 1 (4), 0:29 Jul 30, 2005   Guadalajara, Mexico
2 Win 2–0   Ralf Franklin KO 1 (6), 0:18 Jun 10, 2005   Arena Chololo Larios, Tonalá, Mexico
1 Win 1–0   Kevin Carey TKO 1 (4), 0:25 Apr 4, 2005   Arena Chololo Larios, Tonalá, Mexico

References

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  1. ^ "Philly Keith Sports: Tyrone Young Gun Brunson Interview". Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  2. ^ Brunson & Soriano fight to draw: Brunson looks poor
  3. ^ Brunson KO Streak Ends!
  4. ^ "Tyrone Brunson Aims to Break KO Record". October 2007.
  5. ^ History Made. Sort of…
  6. ^ "Tyrone Brunson - Antonio Soriano Fight to a Draw, Brunson Looks Poor ⋆ Boxing News 24". 18 August 2008.
  7. ^ "Tyrone Brunson - Boxer". Archived from the original on 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  8. ^ "Kermit Cintron KO'd by Tyrone Brunson at 2300 Arena in Philly Saturday!". 25 June 2017.
Records
Preceded by Most consecutive first-round knockouts
19

8 March 2008 – 14 July 2014
Succeeded by
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