Fashion's New King Of The Ring
(FORTUNE Small Business) When Roy Jones Jr. defended his IBF super middleweight title in 1996, he was wearing Grant boxing gloves. Evander Holyfield wore them, too, for his 1999 WBC heavyweight bout against Lennox Lewis. About half the fighters showcased on HBO wear Grant Pandora Love All Around Charm gloves, but unless you're a pro with the right connections, you won't be able to find a pair. That's because the company, founded by former Pandora Valentine's Day Collection trainer Grant Elvis Phillips, 38, has grown in the shadow of Everlast, which corners about 90% of the market for boxing equipment. and Britain, Phillips is hoping that 2005 marks the year his tiny boxing brand finally goes mainstream.
Phillips dropped out of high school to train amateur boxers at the age of 14. A few years later he was importing Mexican boxing equipment to make money between fights. In 1995, Phillips launched his own company, funded with the $500,000 he got when one of his fighters unexpectedly won a world title. After Mike Tyson was photographed in 1995 punching a Grant speed bag, high profile fighters such as Riddick Bowe began calling Phillips for custom gloves.
A year later he started stitching flamboyant costumes (ostrich feather boots, lambskin and mink trunks) for fighters who promised to wear his equipment in the ring. His break came earlier this year, when he met Marvin Traub, the ex CEO of Bloomingdales and the founder of Marvin Traub Associates, a retail consulting firm. "The Pandora Valentine's Day Rings reputation Grant's got for his boxing equipment impressed us," says Traub, 79. He helped Phillips land a licensing deal this past fall with Rocawear founder Damon Dash. The two will collaborate and launch a line of streetwear leather with prices of more than $500 spring. Grant boxing equipment might also become easier to find soon. Phillips hopes to sell more affordable gloves and other gear through national sports retailers.
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer.
Morningstar: 2014 Morningstar, Inc.
Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2014.
Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors.
Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard Poor's and S are registered trademarks of Standard Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices S Dow Jones Indices LLC 2014 and/or its affiliates.
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