By Jake Donovan

Robert “Bravo” Brant enjoys a homecoming appearance for the first defense of his secondary middleweight title, as he faces unbeaten contender Khasan Baysangurov. Their bout will air live on ESPN from Grand Hinckley, Minnesota.

The fight marks the 11th appearance at this venue for Brant (24-1, 16KOs), whose St. Paul (Minn.) hometown is roughly 90 minutes south. It’s his first home fight with a major title at stake, as he captured a belt in a landslide decision win over Ryota Murata last October.

Also on the show: unbeaten bantamweight prospect Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer faces Giovanni Escaner in a 10-round regional title fight; and 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer faces Yareli Larios—the daughter of former two-title titlist Oscar Larios—in a regional super featherweight title fight also scheduled for 10 rounds.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

Tyler Howard was forced to work hard preserve his unbeaten record, digging deep to earn   a split decision over Mexico’s Cristian Olivas in their eight-round middleweight bout. Scores were 79-73 and 77-75 in favor of Howard, with the third card reading 77-75 for Olivas.

Howard (17-0, 11KOs) forced a steady but physical pace throughout the grueling affair. The unbeaten prospect from Crossville, Tenn.—who is co-managed by David McWater and Tim VanNewhouse—constantly peppered Olivas with one-twos, mixing in left hook body shots in his best efforts to make his opponent a stationary target.

To his credit, Olivas (16-4) absorbed all of the incoming although and often responded with left hooks and straight rights upstairs. Howard—a second-generation boxer whose father Eric and brother Chris were also pros—never wilted, but was forced to spend most of the second half of the contest fighting through cuts and swelling around his right eye.

Guyana’s Lennox Allen kept his perfect ring record intact following a 10-round points win over New Jersey’s Derrick Webster in their all-southpaw super middleweight matchup.

Scores were 98-91 (twice) and 97-92 in favor of Allen (22-0-1, 14KOs), whose aggressive style offset the significant height and reach advantages posed by the 6’4” Webster. Allen (21-1-1, 14KOs) certainly had his say in nearly every round, including a knockdown in round three as Webster had few answers at any point in the slow-moving bout.

Webster (28-2, 14KOs) snaps a nine-fight win streak with the loss.

Minneapolis-based super featherweight Ismael Muwondo continues to rebuild following his first career loss nearly a year ago. The 30-year old boxer originally from Uganda prevailed in a six-round decision win over journeyman Hevinson Herrera.

Scores were 60-54 across the board for Muwondo (21-1, 12KOs), who picks up his second consecutive win after a shocking points loss to John Vincent Moralde last May. Muwondo was dropped twice in that fight, and continues to struggle with keepin his chin tucked as Herrera certainly had his say despite not officially winning any rounds.

Steven Nelson has quickly become known for his entertaining pre-fight ring walks, but the unbeaten light heavyweight was forced to show his mettle in a six-round decision win over Felipe Romero in the opening bout of the evening.

A stablemate of undefeated pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford, Omaha’s Nelson was fortunate to have avoided a knockdown being called in an opening round that Romero clearly controlled. He’d score an official knockdown of his own in round three in ultimately seizing control and taking a unanimous decision.

"He's a tough guy who can take a good punch,” admitted Nelson who advances to 13-0 (11KOs). “That's why we picked him. I had him hurt a few times, but we got the job done."

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox