Grady Brewer: Boxing’s “Bad Boy” Speaks
Exclusive interview by Marc Anthony
Photos by Randy Warren
“They have to respect my power. They have to respect my will and my power.” – Grady Brewer
On October 16th, 1999, at age 29, Grady Brewer, 26-12, 15 KO’s, had his first professional boxing match, winning by knockout in the first round against John Carreon. In July 12th of 2002, he won his first championship belt: The USA Texas State Light Middleweight Title by defeating Wilmer Mejia by second round technical knockout. On January 27th, 2005, he captured his second title: the IBA Light Middleweight belt by TKO against Floyd Trumpet.
In 2006, Grady Brewer competed in ESPN’s reality series “The Contender” (Season 2). On September 26th 2006, against the heavily favored Steve Forbes, he went on to win by split decision becoming “The Contender” Season 2 Champ. Grady took a year off to recover from injuries and returned in 2008.
In August of 2009, with seven straight wins, Grady captured the IBC Light Middleweight Title by knocking out previously undefeated Albert Onolunose in the second round.
Grady Brewer has always been a tough competitor and after reading our interview, you will see in print what I heard through his voice and that is, he wants to be a champion in the very near future.
MA: Can you bring us up to speed on what you have been up to?
Well first thing, I want to mention is my last fight. I was doing really well up until that fight. Then of course, going into that fight I had minor surgery. I had a clavicle bone that was rubbing. One doctor told me that I didn’t have enough time to have my shoulder worked on prior to the fight. I told that doctor that I had my left one done before and it didn’t take much time to heal. It possibly was a little something different from my thinking.
I decided to have the surgery done by a different doctor that told me that he could go ahead and get it done. But, going into that fight I wasn’t really 100 percent. So in that fight with Lara, I couldn’t really hit him and or do the things I wanted to do. Two days later I found out that I threw out my shoulder during the fight. Around the fourth round I knew I couldn’t really hit him or do anything.
In the sixth round, we head butted, and I got the worse end of the deal. That opened up a cut that made Lara want to attack it more, and for me to kind of lay low a little bit more. Going into the tenth round, he caught me with a shot and knocked me down and I got up but he won by TKO, but it shouldn’t have been left that way. I think I was beating him up until that point. I would have knocked him out. I hit him with a couple of shots that hurt him but I wasn’t able to finish him.
Two or three days later, after the fight, I noticed that I wasn’t able to move my shoulder. I went to have an MRI done. The MRI come back and it was determined that I had ripped my shoulder up. I didn’t really have any pain even during the fight. I just couldn’t move it and the movement was getting worse and worse as days went by. I had surgery done, but it didn’t take too good. So I had another surgery and that took good, but I had it injured again and had another surgery.
I am kind of laying low after this surgery for about five weeks now. I am fighting back and forth from these injuries trying to put myself back together. I am rehabbing going into the New Year and getting another fight for the New Year.
MA: Going back to the fight with Lara… You had him hurt badly in the fourth round. Did you notice that he was hurt?
I knew I hurt him, but when I hurt him that’s when I must have thrown my shoulder out. When I hurt him I said: “Let me go ahead and jump on him and get him.” I have always been a good finisher. When I hurt somebody, I get on them and take them out. When I hit him, I think there were about 30…60 seconds left in the round. I went to jump on him and take him out but I noticed I couldn’t throw my punches the way I wanted to. So coming into the next round, I said: “I know I can hurt him, I know I can beat him.” I went to the next round and I waited …waited… and waited and before I knew it, the fight was over. I never was able to throw my shots. But now we know why, I had hurt my shoulder.
MA: That’s unfortunate.
It really did suck. It’s been hard to live with. It’s been really hard to live with. The worst thing about the whole situation is that everybody looked at me, going into that fight, thinking that I couldn’t even beat Lara from the beginning. Lara is not that good. Coming out of that fight, I knew I can beat him, but the way things went during the fight…getting injured, I couldn’t beat him. It was his night… it wasn’t my night. Now people think I can’t beat him but I can beat him.
I don’t like getting into the internet and broadcasting telling everybody what’s going on with Grady Brewer. I am excited that you called me and asked information about me. But normally, I just like to lie low, just like I was in The Contender. I just laid low and did my own thing. I am not the kind of guy that like to speak out and broadcast and brag. I am the kind of guy that likes to do my own thing.
It’s just a bad deal that happened. Lara is not that good, there is no doubt… he is not that good. I have fought way better fighters than him.
MA: In a June 2, 2008, interview you said that “Trainer Tommy Gallagher motivated you.” He is the best motivator you have ever seen. What was it he did or said?
When I was fighting in The Contender, he would talk to me. He was the only one that I ever notice catching my attention. I think he slapped me, and I was like: “Who is this dude that slapped me like that, man, I better listen to what he is saying!” He would tell me: “Grady you want this!” “This is yours!” The things he was saying to me just made sense. Made me want to go out there and fight and get it.
MA: August of 2009 you fought Albert Onolunose: for the IBC JR. Middleweight Title. He was undefeated when you took him on. What do you remember about that fight?
I remember I was supposed to fight Anthony Thompson. Anthony Thompson then said that he is retired, because he had an eye injury that he didn’t want to expose anymore. So then they threw Albert Onolunose in at the last minute. I am trained up… ready to go… ready to fight. Then they threw this guy Albert Onolunose who was 18-0. He must be pretty good. They must plan on feeding me to the wolves with this guy. But there was no way they could do that, I already trained real hard. The hardest I ever trained for a fight. Because I knew Anthony Thompson wanted to get me back because I beat him before. I had plenty of time to get ready to train for him. The strongest I have ever been, in the best shape I have ever been.
When they called me and told me that he was backing out and this other guy was stepping in, I had no problem with it. I felt, I was ready for anybody! So, going into that fight I felt really good and it showed. I took him out in the second round.
MA: You completely destroyed him. During that fight you kept throwing your overhand right/cross early in the fight. Did you notice immediately that he was susceptible to it?
Well, no. I never did notice until I hit him. I think it was the second round when I threw the shot. It happened so fast, but after the shot I noticed that he was acting kind of like a drunk. I said: “Man, this dude is hurt!” The next thing I did was jumping on him and completed it.
MA: I remember your comment after the fight, that you felt you didn’t do any work and you were ready for another fight.
Yeah, exactly. I was pretty upset in that interview because those guys were expecting me to lose. I was fighting in his promoter’s back yard, and they were expecting Grady Brewer to go down to this guy because he was younger and better or whatever. I had a lot of get back on that. So when I was going up to this guy, and going that well trained, I was really upset that they thought he could beat me.
MA: Is it true that Albert Onolunose’s brother challenged you after the fight?
Yeah, his brother had the nerve to say: “I will fight you next.” I was like: “Bring it on then.” I was thinking “Man, this guy is crazy.”
MA: Cornelius “K9” Bundrage currently holds the IBF Light Middleweight Title; you have a win over him. Have you talked to him about a possible rematch?
Well, K9 calls me and we talk to each other every so often but when we talk, we never talk on that level. I don’t think K9 would say something like that in that manner? Because I was down and out from my injury after Lara and if he wanted to catch me during that time, I wouldn’t take the fight because of that reason. I think K9 would take it but then again, I would think K9 knows it would be a battle if he fights me again.
MA: How are you able to make your opponents fight to your pace?
I think because they have to respect my power. They have to respect my will and my power. A lot of guys that I fought like a Jermain Taylor and people like that, when I crack them with a shot it makes them respect me. They cannot do the things they want to do. When they cannot do the things they want to do it makes it a game of tic-tac-toe: whoever gets off first…whoever does this… does that. It definitely makes them leery and not to take chances.
MA: At your gym, “Bad Boys Boxing and Fitness,” is there someone you are training to turn pro?
Nobody that I train that is training to turn pro. There are a lot of guys here who have the capability of turning pro though.
MA: Any specific plans on when you will be fighting?
No plans on who I will be fighting. I think my first fight or two, I am looking to just get my feet wet and see where I am at. I know where I am at in the gym, but right now I want to focus on getting my strength back in my shoulder. In the meantime, I won’t be fighting someone major until possibly in March.
MA: Thank you for your time and Happy New Year.
Thank you, you too.
Grady Brewer
Nickname: “Bad Boy”
Division: Light Middleweight
Professional Record: 26- 12, 15 KO’s
1999
10-16 — John Carreon, Lawton, OK, KO 1
2000
01-14 — Willie James, Kansas City, MO, TKO 1
02-08 — Stuart Beath, St. Louis, MO, TKO 1
04-11 — David Foster, St. Louis, MO, W 6
07-20 — Marquez Reed, Dallas, TX, W 6
09-09 — Jesse Gonzalez, Fort Worth, TX, L TKO 6
10-12 — Marquez Reed, Fort Worth, TX, TKO 5
2001
04-19 — Pedro Alvarez, Beaumont, TX, TKO 1
06-08 — Kelly Pavlik, Baraboo, WI, L TKO 2
07-26 — Ignacio Garza, McAllen, TX, TKO 3
10-25 — Efrain Garcia, McAllen, TX, L TKO 3
12-09 — Calvin Odom, Lawton, OK, W 6
2002
01-29 — Calvin Odom, New Orleans, LA, TKO 4
04-04 — Peter Manfredo Jr., Mashantucket, CT, L 8
04-19 — Efrain Garcia, Edinberg, TX, TKO 7
06-15 — Jermain Taylor, Miami, FL, L 8
07-12 — Wilmer Mejia, McAllen, TX, TKO 2
11-16 — Anthony Wilson, Dallas, TX, TKO 2
2003
01-13 — Carlos Bojorquez, Kenner, LA, L TKO 11
05-08 — Leonard Townsend, Tulsa, OK, W 8
05-16 — Danny Perez, Tucson, AZ, L 8
08-22 — Jose Luis Zertuche, Odessa, TX, L KO 5
2004
01-16 — Miguel Martin, Hidalgo, TX, W 8
02-28 — Anthony Thompson, Las Vegas, NV, TKO 3
04-17 — Anthony Ivory, Lawton, OK, W 8
06-17 — Sechew Powell, Laughlin, NV, L 8
09-25 — Marlon Thomas, Detroit, MI, L 10
2005
01-27 — Floyd Trumpet, Charlotte, NC, TKO 7
05-20 — Marco Antonio Rubio, Odessa, TX, L TKO 8
2006
08-08 — Vinroy Barrett, CA, W 5
(Fight aired on August 8, 2006 as part of “The Contender”)
09-12 — Michael Stewart, CA, W 5
(Fight aired on Sept. 12, 2006 as part of “The Contender”)
09-19 — Norberto Bravo, CA, W 5
(Fight aired on Sept. 19, 2006 as part of “The Contender”)
09-26 — Steve Forbes, CA, W 10 *RECAP*
(Won title of The Contender)
2007
*INACTIVE*
2008
09-12 — Brandon Wooten, Lawton, OK, TKO 3
11-13 — Cornelius Bundrage, Providence, RI, W 10
2009
05-15 — Reggie Nash, Lawton, OK, KO 1
08-22 — Albert Onolunose, Pala, CA, KO 2
2010
01-29 — Erislandy Lara, Las Vegas, NV, TKO by 10