After a 13 month layoff, former WBA Middleweight Champion 🇺🇸Rob “Bravo” Brant got back in the win column by stopping Ukrainian 🇺🇦Vitalli Kopylenko in five decisive rounds. The scheduled 10 rounder took place on the Eleider Alvarez vs Joe Smith undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Saturday night.

Referee Jay Nady waved the bout off after seeing swelling under his left eye.

This was Brant’s first return to action since losing the WBA title after being stopped in the second round of his rematch to Ryota Murata in July of 2019, and it also marked his debut under the training team of WBO Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford

With the win Brant, a St. Paul, Minnesota native who resides in Dallas, Texas improves to 26-2-0, with 18KO. Kopylenko drops his second fight in a row and falls to 28-3-0, with 16KO.