Olympian Pat Brown makes his professional debut tonight, Friday, March 28, in Altrincham, England, shown live worldwide on DAZN.
The cruiserweight brings hundreds of fans to his press conferences and weigh-ins, amassing a huge and passionate following before he has even thrown a professional punch, and promoter Eddie Hearn believes he will become the most popular and marketable figure in the sport.
The 25-year-old Brit was originally set to face Vladimir Reznicek for his pro debut, but the Czech fighter withdrew from the contest, resulting in South American cruiserweight champion Frederico Javier Grandone stepping in.
From Sale in Manchester, Brown represented Team GB in the Tokyo 2024 Olympics and turned pro with Matchroom Boxing in November last year.
He is trained by Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis at the V.I.P Gym in Astley alongside Matchroom stablemates Jack Catterall, Cameron Vuong and Conner Tudsbury.
Brown began his boxing journey, aged seven, at Sale West Amateur Boxing Club – the same club where British legend Ricky Hatton boxed as an amateur.
By 2019, Brown was a two-time North West Champion. He joined the famous Moss Side Fire Station boxing club in 2021 at the age of 20, winning the Heavyweight Title at the England Boxing National Amateur Championships that same year.
The huge Manchester United fan was awarded a place on the GB Boxing Podium Squad the following year and won his second National Championships, establishing himself as one of the most exciting talents coming out of the GB set-up.
Now managed by Sam Jones, Eddie Hearn compares the cruiserweight to Ricky Hatton and Anthony Crolla, who both amassed an incredible fan base that filled arenas and stadiums in Manchester.
The Matchroom Boxing promoter said, “I can already tell that they’ll follow him anywhere.
“What Pat has got – an we’ve seen with people like [Josh] Warrington, [Anthony] Crolla and [Ricky] Hatton – is just very, very real.”
He added, “When his manager, Sam Jones, brought him into the office, I thought, ‘It’s you, you’re the one!’
“The more we talked, the more we spoke, the more certain I was. And if I do something, then I like to do it properly.”
All the weights, ringwalk times and running order from the NXTGEN show can be found below:
17:30 Live on Before the Bell (DAZN)
6×3 Welterweight contest
Liam Taylor 10st 6lb 14oz v Jamie Stewart 10st 5lb 4oz
6×3 Super-Middleweight contest
Taylor Bevan 12st 1lb 8oz v Ales Makovec 12st 4lb 10oz
6×3 Light-Heavyweight contest
Conner Tudsbury 12st 11lb 12oz v Robbie Connor 12st 12lb 9oz
7pm Live on DAZN
6×3 Super-Welterweight contest
William Crolla 11st 2lb v Emmanuel Zion 11st 1lb 14oz
10×3 English Super-Middleweight contest
Reece Farnhill 11st 13lb 3oz v Mark Dickinson 11st 13lb 11oz
10×3 WBO European Lightweight Title
Cameron Vuong 9st 8lb 11oz v Jordan Flynn 9st 8lb 13oz
6×3 mins Cruiserweight contest
Pat Brown 14st 8lbs 10oz v Frederico Javier Grandone 14st 6lb 10oz
Watch the full weigh-in back on the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel
Quotes
Pat Brown: “This is part of the pro game. I’ve said it multiple times if you want to make it to the top you’re going to have a lot of eyes on you. You’re going to have loads of media and if I can’t hack it now then I may as well pack me bags and leave and quit this sport. I’m just grabbing it with both hands. You only have one pro debut. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere and this is where my mind frame switches and I’m turning into a different animal now and I’m ready.
“I’m ready. I’m itching to get off the chair to be honest with you. But, I’ll wait till Friday. It’s going to be a good night. I appreciate him [Grandone] coming over from Argentina and taking the fight on. Obviously, me previous opponent [Reznicek], he backed out and I’m just fortunate enough that I’ve got an opponent now and he’s game. He’s coming to fight and that’s what I want. I don’t want no journeyman who’s tucking up, who’s not wanting it. He’s in good shape, he’s been training and like he said he’s up for it. It’s all good for me that.”
Federico Grandone: “I’m very conscious about who I’m fighting, about where I’m fighting,. But I’m really calm and I’m calm in the work that we’ve done, the work that we’ve put in and I’m confident also that I’m going to win and I’m going to leave my life in there to win.
“When I first got the announcement that I was going to fight in this particular fight, I saw it as a great opportunity. I have no problem. I’m always training, I’m always in camp and I’m always ready. I’m ready for these opportunities to come my way so as soon as they mentioned this fight to me, I said ‘no problem, let’s do it.’”
Betting Odds
1/20 Pat Brown
40/1 Draw
28/1 Frederico Javier Grandone
Prediction
This event has been set up to introduce Olympian Pat Brown to the world.
The cruiserweight has been heavily built-up by Eddie Hearn, who believes he could take over the UK boxing scene the same way that Ricky Hatton did, around 18 years ago, when he brought thousands of fans to weigh-ins and press conferences.
Argentina’s Grandone, 33, is a South American cruiserweight champion, but has lost his last four fights in a row, two by KO in rounds seven and three, respectively.
Fight fans can expect another stoppage here, with the heavy-handed Pat Brown very likely to be able to despatch of his opponent within the first three rounds.
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