Newcastle heavyweight Brandon Grach could return to the ring in the "first quarter" of this year following a minor hand operation, his manager Glen Jennings says.
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Grach, who had a breakout win on the No Limit Boxing card headlined by Dylan Biggs and Nikita Tszyu in November, is on the mend and readying for a big year.
Jennings, who famously managed Kostya Tszyu and now oversees the careers of his sons Nikita and Tim, linked with Grach prior to his Newcastle Entertainment Centre victory, widely dubbed Australian boxing's 'knockout of the year'.
"He is a very good prospect in the heavies, and they don't come along very often," Jennings, who is also based in the Hunter, told the Newcastle Herald of Grach.
"[Grach's trainer] Nath [Swadling] asked me to have a look at managing him, so I watched him for a few months to get a feel for him.
"He's got something, and that's half the battle nowadays, is that you've got to have ability and marketability. And he has both."
Grach's victory over Sydney's Liam Talivaa, who had been unbeaten in five fights, was just his second pro bout.
The Whitebridge-based fighter, nicknamed 'The Bull', was a promising amateur in his teens but only returned to boxing in late 2022 after 12 years out of the sport.
A qualified architect who has also spent time in the Army and working outback farms, Grach is now solely focused on boxing, training full-time out of Swadling's BoxCamp gym in Gateshead.
"He will be out for a little while ... but the plan will be to get him back in the ring as early as we can," Jennings said. "That will depend on his recovery ... but I can't see much holding him back.
"My plan would be to have him fight three, four, maybe even five times a year.
"Hopefully I'll have him back in the first quarter."
Jennings was undeterred by Grach's stint away from boxing, but is glad he didn't wait any longer to return.
"He's just gone 30. That's a time when you're starting to get towards a period when you should be established ... The fact that he has only had two pro fights, I don't see that as being a big handicap in the heavyweights because there's only so many heavies around before you go to the international level," he said.
"You can get great opportunities at seven, eight fights into your pro career that you can't get in other divisions. If ... he keeps winning - that's the important part - the opportunities will be there."
Jennings said it was too soon to moot potential opponents for Grach's return, but he expects a few fighters to be hesitant to take him on following his recent victory.
"It certainly got a lot of people talking and got him a lot of attention," he said.
"2024 will be building his [ranking] and we'll see what opens up to us from there."
Jennings, who manages multiple other fighters, added: "Brandon has an ability and an opportunity now, and coming into our stable with all our fighters and our No Limit association, should be very good for him."
