By Mark Vester
Canadian super middleweight Otis Grant has decided to retire from the sport, reports Canada.com.
Grant, who last fought in April, losing a decision to undefeated Librado Andrade, feels that that there is nothing left for him to prove in the sport. In the bout with Andrade, Grant took what he calls the worst beating of his career, but that still made his decision to retire a hard one. His backers wanted the 38-year-old fighter to continue his career, but Grant thought otherwise. Grant ends with a 38-3-1 record, with 17 wins by knockout.
"I'm getting out," Grant told the media outlet. "I'm just waiting to make it official. They tried to get me to keep fighting, but I've had enough," Grant said.
"I can walk away holding my head up high," Grant said. "I was told I could never fight again, but I didn't fight bums on my comeback. I will walk away knowing I could still compete against world-class fighters, but I lost one bout and it's time to go."
Grant began his career in November of 1988 in Montreal, and he lasted almost 20-years in the sport. In 1997, he won the vacant WBO middleweight title by way of a unanimous decision over undefeated Ryan Rhodes in Sheffield. He moved up to the light heavyweight division in November of 1998 to challenge Roy Jones, Jr. for the light heavyweight crown. Jones stopped Grant in ten rounds.
After the bout with Jones, he was nearly killed in a car accident and was told that he would never fight again. He made his return to the ring as a super middleweight over five years later, in 2003. Ironically, in the second bout of his comeback, Grant won a decision over future Roy Jones opponent Prince Badi Ajamu.
In 2005, he scored a big decision win over rugged super middleweight Donnell Wiggins in a fight that many picked him to lose.
"Right from the get-go when I got into this comeback (in 2003, four years after he was almost killed in a traffic accident) I always told them that if I lost, I was out. I have nothing left to prove in boxing," Grant said.
