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Brandon Glanton Is Chasing Immortality | Zuffa Boxing 04
Cruiserweight World Title Challenger Says His Mindset Can Take Him To The Top Of The World At Zuffa Boxing 04.
Brandon Glanton didn’t expect to be here, but the cruiserweight contender finds himself in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 04 with a chance to write his name in the history books as the first-ever Zuffa Boxing world champion. It’s an opportunity that he admits he was surprised to receive, largely because neither he, nor his weight class, have had a huge amount of shine in recent years.
“I don't get picked for anything. For them to even consider me, I'm ecstatic,” he admitted. “I had known about Zuffa. I knew it was going to be a thing, but I never thought they’d pick the cruiserweights. So when they called, I was just like, ‘Oh, sir! Yes, sir,’ you know? So it makes me very happy, that's for sure.”
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Now the 34-year-old from Atlanta has the chance to turn the cruiserweight division on its head when he takes on undefeated world champion Jai Opetaia for the inaugural Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight world championship.
For Glanton, it’s not just a chance to capture a world championship. It’s also the opportunity to face, and defeat, the man widely considered to be the best in his weight class.
“We all try to get the biggest fights. It’s not just about the money. It's about fighting the best fights,” he explained.“I've always respected him. Of the cruiserweight champions, he's only one who I didn't clown, you know? So this is it. There’s nothing else to prove.
“(He’s a) Serious guy. Real deal business, like myself,” he added.“He’s not making a joke of the business. He’s definitely not on YouTube doing all this clown stuff. He backs up what he says, you know? I mean, look at his record – he’s undefeated. He does what he’s supposed to do.”
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Winning against Opetaia would send shockwaves through the division, and while others may look to judge Glanton’s resumé against others in his weight class, he takes a much more inward approach to his motivation. External noise be damned – all he cares about his justifying his own expectations for himself.
“People can say what they want to say, (like) ‘Go be undisputed and do that,’ he said. “I don’t need to mention all the things going on with boxing, but that’s a battle that I’m not as interested in as I am in proving it to the guy in the mirror.
“The only person, process or mindset that I care about is the man in the mirror. This is about self. All these cameras, the hard fights, it's all about self. You spend money, you lose, they forget about you. You die in the physical, but this fight will make me immortal.”
Much has been made of Opetaia’s prodigious knockout power, while Glanton’s heavy hands and durability have helped put him in position to challenge him. But, while the pair’s physical traits have been analyzed and discussed at length, Glanton said the difference maker in his arsenal isn’t something you can find on the tale of the tape.
“One thing you can really speak on is my mental fortitude,” he said. “Obviously, he knows everything I can do physically. I know everything he can do physically … Physical is wonderful, but so my mindset. It's gonna have to come and play.
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“This is what people regard as the best cruiserweight in the world, right? That's what they're saying, right? So you got to think. You can't just be a brute. That's not going to be enough… I’m just locked in on the task at hand. It's literally the hardest fight of my career. Obviously, I'm locked in on what I have to do. I'm not trying to go anywhere, I’m probably not in the best mood, probably not all smiles and giggles, but it's just determination and focus. After is when all the other things come, but right now, or pre-fight, is work. It's focused. But don’t get me wrong, you’ve got to have fun, you’ve gotta smile. I wake up every day and I get to live my dream. Living your dream ain't always sunshine and blue skies, either. It's a very real human being that I have to face. So I'm locked in on that very real human being.”
In the fractured world of boxing, where it’s every man for himself, Glanton sees what’s happening, with champions avoiding other champions in order to protect their paydays. It’s something that has affected Opetaia himself, with the other champions in the division seemingly far from keen to share the ring with him.
Instead, it’s Glanton who will step through the ropes to trade leather with Opetaia, and he’s relishing the chance – not just because it’s a world title opportunity, it’s the chance to capture a world title by defeating the consensus best in the world in his weight class.
“I’m not taking anything from the other guys, but he’s just a younger, stronger, more dominant champion than the other ones,” he stated. “That’s why they don’t want to fight him. Once you get the belt, you want to protect it, and I get that… Boxing now is about taking the easiest fights for the highest paydays. But where I come from, my trainer has always told me to get somewhere different, you’ve got to beat somebody they don’t think you can beat. If you’re just doing it for financial gain, yeah, you go beat who they put in front of you and keep it easy. Hold on to the belt, keep it warm. But you’ve got to look at yourself at the end of the night.
“You’re the last person who sees you before you go to bed, and you know you’ve been out here fighting easier competition, and you didn’t really prove it. You always have that, and I don’t want to live with that. So yeah, give me the one you don’t think I can beat, and let me show you what I can do.”
For Glanton, this feels like so much more than simply a world title fight. This is a chance to write his name in the history books, and to prove himself to the person whose opinion matters most – himself.
“There's been some times in my past I haven't been so proud of myself, and I feel like this is a task that will finally let me look back and be proud of Brandon,” he said.
“Regardless of what people say. Regardless of how people feel about Zuffa, whatever. It’s so much bigger than that for me. Like I said, you die twice – you die in your physical, and you die again when people stop talking about you. This fight will make me immortal – period.”
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