Former Canadian Super Bantamweight champion Buzz Grant didn't get the eight round fight he was looking for, but won a four round war against Hamilton’s Dan Slezsak at the Hamilton Convention Centre November 15th.

Grant was originally scheduled to fight Mexico’s Luis Acevedo, who canceled last minute due to visa problems.

It was clear from the first round that Orangeville’s Grant was more skilled than his last-minute opponent, but Slezsak did not give him an easy win.

Grant was focused with consistent energy throughout the fight, while Slezsak gave everything he had to end rounds with flurries of punches. While Grant did a good job blocking and rolling with the punches, he was caught off balance with a short straight right that knocked him down in the second round.

After the knockdown the fight turned into a brawl. Slezsak came back throwing wild punches looking for the knockout. But it was during these clashes that Grant’s experience shone through. His quick hands and head movement fended off most of what Slezsak had to offer.

Grant got down to business in the third and fourth rounds landing some solid body shots that finally seemed to hurt Slezsak. After some a couple of devastating right hands and hooks to the body, Grant picked his shots obviously looking for a knock out.

In the final round, a tired Slezsak seemed to stall with long clinches in between short bursts of energy.

Grant came away with the unanimous decision victory by scores of 38-36, 39-37 and 39-36. Grant improves to 8-3 with 4 KOs while Slezsak slips to 0-4.

Although Grant found victory, he admitted to Fightnews.ca being disappointed with his performance.

“I was slugging too much and letting (Dan) pace the fight,” he said. “I wasn’t digging to the body enough until the third and fourth round.”

Still, Grant was optimistic with the win. Since vacating the Canadian Super Bantamweight title, he moved up to 135 pounds to seek the Canadian lightweight title. There is no word yet on who he will fight next.

“I think I’m the best lightweight in Canada,” said Grant. “I just need the fight.”

In the female featherweight division, world ranked contender Sandy Tsagouris (10-1, 4 KOs) gave justice to the nickname ‘L’il Tyson’ in her victory over Mayorlin Rivas (5-1, 4 KOs) of Venezuela.

Tsagouris’ small frame, fast hands and inside fighting helped her deliver an assault of clean, powerful punches throughout the bout.

While Tsagouris landed several jabs and left hooks that sounded like knockout punches early in the fight, it wasn’t until a devastating left hook in the fourth that finally seemed to faze Rivas. In the same round, Tsagouris was cut on the left temple after a head clash in the corner.

Rivas tried to cash in on the injury with her straight right for the rest of the fight. Tsagouris, however, was relentless with straight punches down the pipe that managed to break down Rivas’ defense and left her hands down by the final round.

On the undercard, Montreal’s Lucia Larcinese (3-4) won a four round majority decision over Kara McLeod (2-1) of Six Nations Reserve. It was a busy fight that went back and forth in the first two rounds. In the end, McLeod was visibly frustrated, walking in to too many Larcinese’s straight rights in the final round.

In his pro debut, James Carpio (1-0, 1KO) stopped Dave Aucoin (0-1) at 1:48 of the opening round.

If you wish to contact the author of this article, email Natalie Dunleavy at FightNews Canada