Tyrone Brunson (boxer)


Tyrone Brunson is an American professional boxer, notable for holding the record of the most consecutive first-round knockouts for over 6 years.

Amateur career

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.

Professional career

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

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 27, 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.
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. The decision was greeted with a chorus of boos from the attending audience, who felt that Soriano had done enough to gain the victory
On December 4, 2009, Brunson fought Carson Jones. Brunson had a great first two rounds 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

The main criticism leveled at Brunson by some boxing pundits and fans is the extremely poor level of opposition he has faced while making his way to the record. In contrast with Valero, whose first 18 opponents had a combined record of 112-102-17, the combined record of Brunson's opponents was just 60-94-8. 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

After suffering from a string of consecutive losses, Brunson scored two consecutive upset wins in 2017 against Brandon Quarles & former IBF Welterweight World Champion Kermit Cintron.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
34Win26–6–2 Manny WoodsRTD8, 3:00Dec 1, 2017 Arena VFG, Guadalajara, MexicoWon vacant UBF International super welterweight title
33Win25–6–2 Kermit CintronKO5, 1:21Jun 24, 2017 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Won vacant USA Pennsylvania State super welterweight title
32Win24–6–2 Brandon QuarlesSD8Feb 16, 1990 Palenque de la Feria, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico
31Draw23–6–2 Ismael GarciaSD8Nov 3, 1989 Tepic, Mexico
30Win23–6–1 Carlos Garcia HernandezKO4, 0:45Jul 27, 1989 Auditorio Siglo XXI, Puebla, Mexico
29Loss22–6–1 Caleb PlantUD8Jun 21, 1989 Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Mexico73-79 73-79 74-78
28Loss22–5–1 Dennis HoganUD10May 1, 1989 Xcaret Park, Cancún, MexicoFor vacant NBA-NABA USA super welterweight title
27Loss22–4–1 Tony HarrisonTKO1, 1:02Oct 22, 1988 Gimnasio Niños Héroes, Tepic, Mexico
26Loss22–3–1 Decarlo PerezTKO5, 2:29Jun 27, 1988 Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Mexico
25Win22–2–1 Hansel MateoKO1, 1:33Apr 18, 1987 Foro Scotiabank, Mexico City, Mexico
24Loss21–2–1 James de la RosaUD8Feb 21, 1987 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, Miami, Florida, U.S.
23Loss21–1–1 Carson JonesTKO3, 2:39Jul 26, 1986 Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California, U.S.
22Win21–0–1 Jose MedinaKO3, 1:31Mar 21, 1986 Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Mexico
21Win20–0–1 Marcos PrimeraUD8Dec 7, 1985 Palenque Calle 2, Zapopan, Mexico
20Draw19–0–1 Antonio SorianoMD6Apr 21, 2018 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.
19Win19–0 Francis McKechnaiTKO1, 1:12May 7, 1985 Salon Marbet Plus, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico
18Win18–0 Jamie WaruTKO1, 2:56July 10, 1984 Coliseo Olimpico de la UG, Guadalajara, Mexico
17Win17–0 Lee HunterKO1, 0:59Jun 2, 1984 Salon Marbet Plus, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico
16Win16–0 Tony WatsonKO1, 1:40Jan 24, 1984 Auditorio Benito Juarez, Guadalajara, Mexico
15Win15–0 David JohnsonTKO1, 0:52Dec 27, 1983 Coliseo Olímpico, Guadalajara, Mexico
14Win14–0 Kirk DouglasKO1, 2:13Oct 22, 1983 Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Mexico
13Win13–0 Guy PackerKO1, 2:24July 5, 1983 Casino de los Fresnos, Tepic, Mexico
12Win12–0 Chris GraysTKO1, 1:23May 3, 1983 Auditorio Benito Juarez, Guadalajara, Mexico
11Win11–0 Charles DaltonKO1, 0:30Mar 1, 1983 Arena-Casino Los Fresnos, Tepic, Mexico
10Win10–0 Terry JohnsonTKO1, 1:10Jan 11, 1983 Casino Los Fresnos, Tepic, Mexico
9Win9–0 James MorrowTKO1, 1:04Nov 30, 1982 Arena Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico
8Win8–0 Ian RumlerTKO1, 1:39Nov 2, 1982 Tonalá, Mexico
7Win7–0 Bill TiptonTKO1, 2:15Jun 22, 1982 Guadalajara, Mexico
6Win6–0 Joe HarrisonKO1, 0:21May 23, 1982 Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Mexico
5Win5–0 Antonio ScottTKO1, 1:44Apr 27, 1982 Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez Moreno, Tijuana, Mexico
4Win4–0 Terry RorkKO1, 0:17Apr 13, 1982 Men's Club, Guadalajara, Mexico
3Win3–0 Demiko MooreKO1, 0:29Mar 30, 1982 Guadalajara, Mexico
2Win2–0 Ralf FranklinKO1, 0:18Mar 9, 1982 Arena Chololo Larios, Tonalá, Mexico
1Win1–0 Kevin Carey1, 0:25Feb 16, 1982 Arena Chololo Larios, Tonalá, MexicoProfessional debut