North American Boxing Federation (NABF) heavyweight champion Tony “TNT” Grano, who was recently selected by the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame as the Nutmeg state’s 2012 Professional Fighter of the Year, has moved up to No. 5 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) world heavyweight rankings.
Grano will receive his award on Saturday night, November 17 at the 8th annual Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) Gala Induction in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun.
The 2012 CBHOF Hall of Fame inductees and other 2012 award winners will be honored at the special dinner ceremony. 2012 CNHOF inductees are former World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight champion “Tremendous” Travis Simms, former World Boxing Union (WBU) middleweight titlist “Dangerous” Dana Rosenblatt, five-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach, promoter Jimmy Burchfield (Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc.), manager George Cruz, and the late manager/promoter Lou Viscusi.
The other 2012 award winners are Elvis Figueroa, Conn. Amateur Boxer of the Year; Dick Flaherty, Official of the Year; Mitchell Etess, Contributor To Boxing
The 31-year-old Grano (20-2-1, 16 KOs), fighting out of Hebron (CT) by way of Hartford, is the first recipient of Conn Boxer of the Year award as a professional and amateur. He was selected as the amateur winner in the inaugural year of the CBHOF, after capturing a gold medal at the 2005 U.S. National Championships and silver medal at the National Golden Gloves Tournament.
The hard-hitting Grano, now promoted by legendary Don King, earned his selection as 2012 Conn. Fighter of the Year off a pair of impressive victories this year, knocking out Brian Minto (35-4) in the third-round of their NABF title eliminator, and stopping former world title challenger DaVarryl Williamson (27-6) in the fourth round this past June for the vacant NABF title.
“This is a huge honor and I’m very happy to be getting this award,” Grano said. “It shows that hard work pays off. I am honored and thank the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame. I really needed to step-up this year to be considered a contender. ”
Grano doesn’t have a fight scheduled but he’s hoping for a career-defining fight in the not too distant future. “I’ll mix it up with anybody,” Grano continued. “I’m playing the waiting game right now. My promoter, Don King, won the purse bid for the WBC (heavyweight) title eliminator between (Chris) Arreola and (Bermane) Stiverne. We’re waiting to hear where and when and I hope to fight in the co-feature. I’m looking to be in a big fight against a top 10 opponent, guys like (Seth) Mitchell and (Tomasz) Adamek. I’ve sparred with (WBC heavyweight champion) Vitali (Klitschko) and feel ready for anybody.”
