NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - In the main event Saturday night at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland, WBC Featherweight Champion, Gary Russell, Jr. (29-1, 17 KOs) suited up to go against #1 contender Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (26-1, 14 KOs).  The parallels for both men were unmistakable. Both fighters trained by their fathers, both former U.S. Olympians, both rising through the professional ranks boasting only a mild blemishes on their records and now both on a collision course to determine who would take home the WBC Featherweight championship belt.

In a sport where loud trash talking and cocky dispositions are used to sell tickets, these two men were refreshingly calm and respectful of one another. Neither shying away from their gifts and what they believed they would bring to the fight. But both staying within the lines of professionalism and decorum.

Leading up to tonight’s fight, Russell Jr. had fought once in three years. In May of last year he beat Oscar Escandon at this same venue with a 7th round TKO.  There was some question, whether he might suffer some ring rust headed into the headline fight this evening. Over this same period, Diaz, Jr.  has had eleven fights leading to this evening.  Russell, Jr. is known for his incredible hand speed, and quickness while southpaw, Diaz, Jr. brings notable power into the ring. The age old question would be asked again. Does speed beat power?

​In the opening round, Diaz, Jr. was quick to take the center of the ring and almost immediately gave up ground as Russell, Jr. would fire several rapid jabs through the peek-a-boo guard of Diaz, Jr.  Russell, Jr. speed was apparent and Diaz, Jr. seemed comfortable absorbing pitty-pat jabs in the first round.  While no real damage was done, Diaz, Jr. returned to his corner at the end of the round with a face that belonged on a tomato can.  

“This will just make me a hungrier fighter. I hope I got the respect of a lot of fight fans. I wanted to become champion against the best featherweight fighter in the world. Tonight wasn’t my night but I’m going to bounce back harder and I’ll be champion soon, said Diaz, Jr.”

​Both men’s performances this evening should pave the way for future fights in the near future. We just hope to find them in the DMV.

Round 2 would see the arrival of Diaz, Jr.  as the bigger fighter he began to move forward and deliver body shots on Russell, Jr. that could be felt in the first row. At times through the first four rounds, it appeared that Russell, Jr. might be in for a long night. The game plan for Diaz, Jr. was evident. He would try to break down the body of Russell, Jr. and wear him down for the later rounds.  But it seemed that Diaz would be the one who wore down.  Russell, Jr. out landed Diaz, Jr. with a personal best of 992 punches to Diaz, Jr.’s 491.  What made this punch count even more remarkable was that Russell, Jr. suffered a hand injury early in the fight. 

“I hurt my right hand in the second or third round, so we had to make adjustments.  “We train to survive those body shots, said Russell, Jr.”

The fight would go the distance with Gary Russell, Jr. raising his arms to a unanimous decision victory, 117-111; 117-111; 115-113.  But Diaz, Jr. made it known that he was the real deal at the #1 ranking. He fell short this evening but put on a tremendous display of heart and character throughout the fight, taking no rounds off and marching forward on every occasion he could find.  

“This will just make me a hungrier fighter. I hope I got the respect of a lot of fight fans. I wanted to become champion against the best featherweight fighter in the world. Tonight wasn’t my night but I’m going to bounce back harder and I’ll be champion soon, said Diaz, Jr.”

Both men’s performances this evening should pave the way for future fights in the near future. We just hope to find them in the DMV.


​About the Author:
Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD.  He is a Certified Personal Trainer and holds a black belt in ITF Tae Kwon Do with additional training in Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.​ ​

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. (May 20, 2017) - WBC Featherweight World Champion Gary Russell Jr. made his second defense of his title when he faced top challenger Oscar Escandon on Saturday, May 20 in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING at the recently opened MGM National Harbor in Maryland live on SHOWTIME.

The Maryland-native Russell Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs) and the WBC Interim Featherweight Champion Escandon (25-2, 17 KOs) battled in an exciting feature bout that brought the local crowd of 2,345 to their feet on several occasions. Leading up to the fight, the speedy and talented Russell Jr., was impressive in his fourth-round stoppage of the battle-tested Jhonny Gonzalez that earned him the title in March 2015. The 2008 U.S. Olympian had also scored important victories over Vyacheslav Gusev, Juan Ruiz and Miguel Tamayo before losing a majority decision to Vasyl Lomachenko for the WBO 126-pound title in June 2014. The southpaw, of Capitol Heights, Md., also scored a dominant second-round TKO victory over Patrick Hyland in his first title defense in April 2016.

Fighting out of Ibague, Colombia, Escandon turned pro in 2008 and was undefeated in his first 22 professional bouts. Escandon won an interim world title at super bantamweight in 2014 when he defeated Tyson Cave in his U.S. debut. He earned his shot at Russell Jr. last March when he survived an early knockdown to score a knockout victory over Robinson Castellanos in the seventh round of their showdown in Washington, D.C.

Russell Jr. came out on fire in Round 1 putting is speed on display in the form of lightning combinations to the body and head of Escandon. Mid-way through the fight Escandon was hurt badly, knocked down and wobbled several times but refused to go down to the furious power punches by Russell, Jr.  By Round 6, the writing was on the wall, Escandon had picked up his output a bit but continued to take heavy punishment from Russell Jr., who was making only slight footwork adjustments to set-up the angles for some crushing upper cuts. Russell Jr. was pitching a shut-out and by time Round 7 got started the accumulation of punches had taken their toll on Escandon. He was sent to the ropes behind steady combinations from Russell, Jr. when referee, Harvey Dock stepped in the end the contest at 59 seconds in the 7th round. Russell commented after the fight, “I fought a tough competitor. I knew Escandon wanted to come and bring his best. I knew he was going to come forward. I was ready for him. We are warriors."

The other fireworks of the evening were brought out by top 168-pound contenders Andre Dirrell (25-2, 16 KOs) out of Flint, Michigan and Jose Uzcategui (26-1, 22 KOs) fighting out of Baja California, Mexico. The two met for the IBF Super Middleweight World Championship.

33- year old Andre Dirrell said all the right things at the final press conference leading to the event. “My opponent is a fantastic fighter. If anyone should be in line for a title it’s this guy. He has the the power and he has the skill. I just believe he’s up against a better and tougher opponent."

But when the bell rang on Saturday night, Jose Uzcategui let his hands make up for his limited English speaking skills. Dirrell was pressured throughout the fight and was usually fighting off the ropes or just beyond the skirt for most of the duration. Uzcategui hurt Dirrell early with under 40 seconds left in the 2nd, placing him on wobble street just before the end of the round. The power advantage was clear and Dirrell was looking to avoid Uzcategui's power shots for the remainder of the fight while looking to counter when he could.

The controversy began at the end of the 8th round when Uzcategui knocked out Dirrell at the end of a multi-punch combination  just after the bell rang ending the round.  Dirrell did what any fighter who was clearly losing the fight up to that point would have done. He stayed down. Referee Bill Clancy, disqualified Uzcategui and declared Dirrell the winner.   This  triggered a ringside fracas which turned into pandemonium as Leon Lawson, Jr., Dirrell's uncle and trainer made his way to Uzcategui's corner and sucker-punched Uzcategui with a barehanded left hook.  Dirrell's uncle wasn't any more successful with taking Uzcategui down than his nephew was though, as Uzcategui  stood firmly rooted and instinctively brought his hands up to protect himself.

Local county police and security personnel eventually restored order to the ring and the night proceeded incident free. But it was a vivid statement to local boxing fans that professional boxing with all its glory and sometimes warts, has come to D.C. 

Full results for Showtime Championship Boxing: Russell Jr. vs. Oscar Escandon can be found here.


About the Author:
​Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD. He holds a black belt in ITF Tae Kwon Do with additional training in Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.

Gary Russell Jr. vs. Oscar Escandon is a featherweight world championship showdown that headlines SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on Saturday, May 20 from MGM National Harbor in Maryland. Televised coverage begins on SHOWTIME at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and features super middleweight contenders Andre Dirrell and Jose Uzcategui in a matchup for the Interim IBF Super Middleweight World Championship plus two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy in a WBA 140-pound world title eliminator against Kiryl Relikh. In the telecast opener, from Copper Box Arena in London, Gervonta Davis puts his IBF Jr. Lightweight Title on the line against Liam Walsh.

For more information, follow on Twitter @MrGaryRussellJr, @TGBPromotions, @MGMNatlHarbor and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOBoxing.

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About the Author:
​Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD. He holds a black belt in ITF Tae Kwon Do with additional training in Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.

Springfield, VA - Mike Balogun continued his march the Heavyweight prominence in the main event on Saturday night, April 29th at the ABC Sports Complex in Springfield, VA.

​The show marked the promotional event debut for the Victory Boxing  & Management team of Jonathan Davis, Kenny Leonard and Michael Thomas.

Balogun, hailing from Upper Marlboro, MD faced ring journeyman, Grover Young of Memphis, TN.  Undefeated Balogun who has won six of his nine fights by KO, looked to step up in experience level, facing a fighter in Young who has had over 30 professional fights.

Balogun's camp had obviously been working on fighting behind the jab, because all of Balogun's early work came off of the jab or jab feints.  Young for his part was easy to hit but avoided taking the big shot that might end his night early.  He absorbed most of the punishment served up Balogun, fighting with his lead right shoulder as a shield to try to push his way inside.  Balogun would find his angles of attack by circling both clockwise and counter clockwise before touching Young up with combinations.  On many occasions he would also force Young to the ropes, squaring him up and unleashing some heavy artillery to the body and head of Young.

​After the scheduled 6-round contest, Balogun, was declared the winner by the unanimous decision 60-54; 59-55; 59-55.  Balogun moves to 10-0 in the early part of what looks to be a promising boxing career.

For more information Victory Boxing & Management, visit their website at www.victoryboxingmgmt.com.

About the Author:
​Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD. He holds a black belt in ITF Tae Kwon Do with additional training in Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.
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Oxon Hill, MD - MGM National Harbor hosted it's second professional boxing card in as many weeks as Showtime Boxing featured a televised event in front of a local crowd of over 2,000.

The main event featured a scheduled 12-round, Light Heavyweight title fight between Interim champion Dmitry Bivol of Vesvolzhsk, Russia against Samuel Clarkson from Cedar Hills, Texas.  No physical advantage was evident before the  bout, as the height and reach stats were near even for both men. But, what was not apparent on paper revealed itself early at the start of the Round 1.

Clarkson, wearing white trunks and fighting in a southpaw stance started out trying to establish his jab early. Bivol, fighting orthodox was happy to play counter puncher for the moment absorbing the jabs and responding with right hands to the body.  Clarkson didn't have a lot of movement early on and was missing the subtle foot advances initiated by Bivol. With every jab or response to a jab, Bivol would take away one inch of canvas with his left foot to the outside of the right foot of Clarkson.   With the dominant angle and a power advantage over Clarkson, Bivol dropped level to deliver a powerful right hand to the body of Clarkson inside of a minute into the first round.  Clarkson didn't appear to be hurt but he felt the power of Bivol with that punch and gave ground immediately.  With Clarkson backing himself to the ropes, Bivol shuffled in to take space and delivered right, left, right, head shots, finishing with a left hook that dropped Clarkson to his left knee. But the way Clarkson took the knee as well as the way he was bending over when he stood, indicated to me that the body shot was the one he was still smarting from.  The headshots were an annoyance but they didn't do any real damage.  Once Clarkson was cleared by the referee to continue, Bivol picked up where he left off with power shots coming from both hands backing Clarkson into the corner and out along the ropes.  A straight left to the body followed by a cross to the head crumpled Clarkson again to the canvas.  When he rose at the count of five by referee, Harvey Dock you can bet he was thinking that he probably should have put more core work in his training leading up to the fight. 

Clarkson was able to get out of the first round. But he was still reeling from the body shots.  At the start of Round 2, Clarkson had a couple of spurts where he put together some nice combinations to try to get Bivol's attention but nothing landed that prevented Bivol from proceeding with a methodical lead right hand, set-up by his superior footwork throughout the fight.  Round 3 saw Clarkson again in retreat mode and now having felt the power of Bivol, he was more susceptible to feints and  set-up shots.    Clarkson doesn't appear to be lacking skill, he was just being out classed by a more powerful and more technical fighter in Bivol. 

The final shot that ended Clarkson's evening wasn't really a clean shot at all.  Bivol had been patient up to this point and was happy slowly breaking Clarkson down over the course of the fight. The body blows and head trauma began to pile up points and Clarkson's punches were now lacking balance and follow-through. On a lung punch by Clarkson, Bivol simply stepped aside and helped Clarkson to the canvas with a grazing check hook to the head.  Clarkson hit the canvas for a third time in the fight and couldn't maintain his balance as he rose which prompted referee to stop the fight at 40 seconds into the 4th round.  A TKO win for Dmitry Bivol.

​Clarkson remarked after the fight, "He caught me with a good body shot for the first knockdown.  I thought I was back in the fight in rounds two and three.  In round four I got caught, I stumbled and my balance was off."  CompuBox, a computerized scoring system that captures the punch output of each fighter,  showed Bivol's total punches at 262 vs. Clarkson's 152.  Clarkson landed 35% of his total punches and Clarkson 15%.  But the power punches told the story, 61 out 134 power punches for Bivol at 46% and a mere 15 of 86 for Clarkson at 17%.  Bivol was pleased with his performance, "I thought I would finish him in the first round, but I think it was better that it went to four rounds because the fans were able to see the way I fight."   "I'm definitely ready for my title shot again Nathan Cleverly in my next fight. I'm ready."

SHOBOX: BIVOL VS. CLARKSON RESULTS

• WBA Light Heavyweight Title - Dmitry Bivol defeated Samuel Clarkson by TKO in Round 4.
• Welterweight- Malik Hawkins defeated Carlos Soto by TKO in Round 2.
• ​Super Bantamweight - Glen Dezurn defeated Leroy Davila by unanimous decision.
• ​Heavyweights - Joey Dawejko vs Rodney Hernandez was decided as a Split Draw.
• Light Heavyweight- Travis Reeves defeated Taneal Goyco by unanimous decision.
• ​Super Featherweight - Ruben Villa defeated Luis Diaz by TKO in Round 6.
• ​Junior Lightweight - Michael Dutchover defeated Eder Amaro by TKO at end of 3rd.
• ​Heavyweight- Hasim Rahman, Jr. defeated Ralph Alexander by TKO in Round 1.
• Heavyweight - Sergey Kuzmin defeated Keenan Hickman by  TKO (Dr. stoppage) in Round 3.

For more information on Showtime Boxing, visit www.sho.com/sports or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOSports.

​About the Author:
​Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD. He holds a black belt in ITF Tae Kwon Do with additional training in Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.

Fort Washington, MD - Kings Promotions made a return to Rosecroft Raceway Saturday night putting on a highly competitive, 7-bout card in front of a packed house.  Undefeated junior welterweight and local Forestville, MD product, Mykal Fox would again headline the card in the main event. Fox came into the night on a 12-0 record.  He would face a knock-out artist in challenger in Tre'Sean Wiggins from Newburgh, NY.  Leading up to the fight, Wiggins had a record of 7-2 with six knockouts. He'd last fought on April 15, 2016  losing a split decision against Benjamin Whitaker in Verona, NY.

​Fox known as, "The Professor" (black trunks with gold trim),  has established himself as a technical fighter who is well trained in using his reach advantage to pick apart most of his challengers.  Tonight served to be his toughest test and his physical reach advantage likely saved him from taking damage early on in the fight.  Fox began the contest from his natural southpaw stance but he seemed to be carrying his right hand particularly low.  Wiggins picked up on this fact and attempted to counter Fox's jabs with overhand lefts and left hooks to make Fox pay for the oversight.  Wiggins made no attempts to disguise his intentions though and began head-hunting early in the fight and found some success at the times that Fox would remain stationary. Whatever opportunity existed for Wiggins in that area was short lived. By closing period of the 2nd round, Fox had made his adjustments.  Wiggins was chasing the same game plan from early in the fight and was looking to catch Fox coming in.  He never fought to work his way inside which allowed Fox to box in his comfort zone and stay at his punching range but keep Wiggins just outside of his own.  Wiggins would retaliate with flurries at times but the blows would either fall short or glance off the defenses of Fox.    The scheduled 8 rounder would go the distance with Fox winning by split decision 76-76, 77-75, 78-74.  The bout didn't appear to be that close to me but the experience will definitely contribute to Fox's development as he extends his winning streak to a 13-0 record.

Luther Smith of Bowie, Maryland would also make his return to the ring against Darnell Pierce of Austin, Texas.  This would be Smith's second fight at cruiserweight and he seems to have found a home at this weight class that lines up appropriately with his skills and power.

​At the outset, Smith (black trunks, red trim) controlled the distance and movement of the fight making Pierce respond to his actions.  Pierce's game plan seemed to be to play the counter game.  But Smith's head movement and footwork put him ahead on most exchanges.  Pierce was often flat-footed in the fight and while he had control of the center of the ring early, he didn't take it.  Smith ceded it to him, preferring to dictate his range from the outside.  In boxing, when one fighter allows the other to control distance, determine where the fight takes place and is playing catch up in exchanges, fight math usually provides a definitive answer.  Smith rose from a crouched, guarded position and delivered a thunderous right hook, ending the night for Pierce.  Smith moves to a 7-1 record with six KOs.​

Other highlights on the card included Tyrek Irby (black trunks, gold trim), another Forestville, MD fighter against Lamont White (blue trunks, white trim)  from nearby Waldorf, MD meeting at the 140 lbs. weight class.  White would switch stances in the fight to give Irby different looks and to disrupt his timing but Irby's accuracy and speed proved to be the deciding factor in this fight.  Irby fought behind his jab skillfully and would control most of the action in the ring.  After the scheduled four rounds, Irby was declared winner by unanimous decision.

Patrick Rivera of Edgewood, MD vs. Greg Clark of Washington D.C. at the super middleweight class got the party started early with the first scheduled bout.  Rivera was a World Kickboxing Association champion at the amateur ranks and has recently brought his skills to the boxing ring.  After a slow start, there was plenty of give and take by both opponents, as the fight advantage seem to swing from one side to the other during the scheduled 4-round affair.  In the end, Clark came away with a split-decision win, 39-37, 39-37. 37-39.

Justin Hurd laid his claim on the evening by stopping Dawond Pickney of Hot Springs, AK at the end of Round 2.  Hurd is the younger brother of Jarrett "Swift" Hurd, the undefeated (19-0) title prospect making his way up the ladder of the super welterweight division.  Justin Hurd didn't really establish any one punch during the fight.  He worked the body of Pickney early using it to set-up overhand rights.  But, realizing he had a speed advantage over Pickney, he was content with using feints and footwork to create and attack openings.  The outmatched Pickney was hurt with a right hand from Hurd at the end of the second round and could not answer the bell at the beginning of 3rd, as ringside doctors deemed him unfit to continue.  The TKO finish takes Hurd to 2-0.

Greg Outlaw Jr. of Bowie, MD faced off against Kashon Hutchinson of Reading, PA at 140lbs.  Outlaw started the fight in orthodox stance vs. Hutchinson's southpaw stance. The traditional goal in the battle of open stances is for each fighter to get their lead foot to the outside of their opponent's lead foot which creates an advantage in attack angles.  Outlaw seemed to understand this and was winning the footwork game which extended to his early effectiveness in the fight.  About half-way through the 4-round bout, Outlaw would switch stances.  While he remained busy, he didn't land as many clean shots as he did earlier.  Hutchinson fought behind a Philly Shell (a style Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has made famous), exhibiting solid defense but unable to get Outlaw to respect any of his offense.  Outlaw was the more aggressive fighter early but I believe the shift in stance allowed Hutchinson to make up ground and pull the fight closer.  The judges scored the bout, 38-38, 39-37, 40-36 in favor of Outlaw who starts his early career at 2-0.

Marcus Bates of Washington D.C. scored a late knockout with a straight right against Alec McGee of Reno, NV in the final round of their scheduled 6-rounder.  The shot was so clean that the referee, Kenny Chevalier never bothered to start a count, ending the fight immediately. Bates improved to 6-0-1 with now 6 KOs.

​Kings Promotions closed out another solid boxing event in the DMV area.  If you're interested in coming out to future contests or for more information go to www.kpboxing.com.

Glen Burnie, MD -  Michael's Eighth Avenue played venue host Friday night, January 13th to Jake Smith's Baltimore Pro Boxing event.  Promoter Jake Smith runs Baltimore Boxing Club in Fells Point.

​The main event featured a super middleweight contest with Baltimore's own Jessie "The Beast" Nicklow vs. Chauncy Fields of Lynchburg, VA.  Nicklow sported a respectable 25-8-3 record headed into the bout against the undefeated Fields who at 4-0  would certainly benefit from a strong showing against an experienced opponent. 

​The undercard included Ernest Hall of Baltimore, MD against Cleveland Hemphill of Temple Hills, MD, Donald Wallace of Baltimore, MD against Tahir Thomas of Salisbury, MD and Roger Caruso of Dundalk, MD against Aaron Anderson of Baltimore.

​The evening began with 4 competitive and highly spirited amateur bouts to get the crowd primed and ready for the late evening action.  Michael's Eight Avenue functions as a wedding and banquet hall and the ring was posted in the center of four large chandeliers which set up almost exactly in line with the ring posts creating a melodramatic backdrop with the lights, fighters and ringside fans.
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When the pro bouts began, the first scheduled match was Ernest Hall vs. Cleveland Hemphill at 130 pounds, both in their pro debuts.  Hall made his intentions clear early on with machine-gun like body blows that Hemphill had to find answer for.  While Hemphill attempted to pivot away at times, he had no answer for Hall and was floored repeatedly with body shots, early in the first round and again in the second. Hemphill was unable to answer the start of the 3rd and Hall was awarded the TKO win officially at the end of Round 2.

The second fight of the evening stood out as a prime example of what fight fans show up to see.  Donald Wallace squared off against Tahir Thomas at 166 pounds in a 6-round bout and neither man was willing to give ground.  Wallace was determined to get his punches off first and Thomas was just as committed to returning fire from his peek-a-boo style guard.  Initially, Wallace seemed to be the clear aggressor but both fighters routinely traded ownership rights to ring in the early two rounds. In round 3, Thomas decided to chase and routinely walked into overhand lefts and straight rights as Wallace adeptly left combinations and exit smoke as he circled away. But Thomas' pressure paid off, as he found the timing to land a counter right that put Wallace on the canvas.  After Wallace was cleared to continue, Thomas pressed the action even more with uppercuts and hooks to the body and head bringing the 3rd round to a close and almost ending the night for Wallace.  After 6 hard fought rounds by both competitors, the fight ended with the judges awarding Wallace a unanimous decision, 57-56, 59-55, 57-56.

The Roger Caruso vs. Aaron Anderson match was blur.   Anderson came out as the aggressor against Caruso who was throwing wide looping right hands from a southpaw stance to start the exchanges.  Boxing math caught up to Caruso fairly quickly as Anderson stepped in with a left hook to the head and ended the fight by KO at 1:34 in the first round.​

The main event between Jessie Nicklow and Chauncey Fields put on display the technical skills of Nicklow against a very willing Fields but early in his development as a fighter.  Nicklow fought from behind a tight guard and methodical movements and he caught off ring consistently from Fields who preferred to fight on the outside.  Nicklow landed lots of lead rights to the body of Fields early in the 8 round affair but it wasn't clear if he was doing damage.  Nicklow has some technical skills but appears to lack dominant punching power. In this bout, he was content as a volume puncher, continuing to press forward, piling up points and wearing Fields down.  While Nicklow had control of the fight throughout, he would find himself caught off balance at one point in the round 2, when Fields landed a good power shot that sent Nicklow down.  No damage was done and Nicklow continued the game plan winning a unanimous decision 79-73 on all the judge's cards.

Baltimore Boxing's next event is March 30th at Michael's 8th Avenue. Tickets can be reserved now at http://www.baltimoreboxing.com/ or calling 410-375-9175.

It's tuxedo season in Washington D.C. and there is no shortage of philanthropic events to give, feel good and have a good time. But, there is one annual event in the city that stands alone for the uniqueness of it's activities and the guests it attracts.  The Fight Night charity event held annually at the Washington Hilton raises money to benefit Fight for Children, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of early childhood education in Washington D.C.  This year's edition was held on Thursday, November 10th and was once again a sold out affair.

Fight Night is one of the premier fundraising events in the city attracting a cross section of business and political leaders who get to rub shoulders with former and current elite athletes.  Under Armour presents this black-tie affair and it's conducted over a fine dinner, wine and if you have the penchant, a nice cigar. 

This year marked the 26th year of the event and as is customary, there was a backdrop of pro boxing entertainment along with musical guest, Foreigner and Sheila E..  The boxing program showcased a middleweight bout between Antoine Douglas of Burke, VA vs. Ernesto Berrospe of Mexico and a main event battle of the undefeated for the USBA Featherweight Championship with Daniel Franco of Riverside, CA who entered with a 14-0-3 record against Derrick Murray out of St. Louis, MO who sported a 13-0-1 record.  But this year a special feature was added, a muay thai match featuring Jovan Davis of Arlington, VA against Terrell Hobbs of Richmond, VA.

The muay thai match was a nice change of pace and suggested some folks on the planning staff have been paying attention to the rising interests of fans in combat sports.

​The only disappointing aspect of this fight was that it was too short.  I'm not sure the crowd fully appreciated what they were watching before the fight was stopped with Davis overwhelming Hobbs with straight line combinations and knees in the first round, finally forcing him into the ropes and flooring him with an inside right elbow.  Jovan Davis fights out of Pentagon MMA.

​In the main event, Daniel "Twitch"  Franco and Derrick Murray would be meeting to fight for the U.S. Boxing Association featherweight  title in a scheduled 10-round bout.

When two undefeated fighters come together, it always makes for an interesting contest.  They both look to impose their will upon the other and it's almost assured that someone will experience a level of adversity that they haven't encountered. 

​Murray had a lot of movement in the early rounds with slips, and side to side footwork.   He landed some clean hooks to the head of Franco from time to time but without much power coming from either hand.  Franco played both the aggressor and the counter puncher in the fight. Early on he was looking for head shots of his own but recognizing the elusiveness of Murray he changed tactics in the 3rd round focusing on body punches and countering the lazy jabs of Murray.  Speed was the difference in this fight. Franco was already answering many of Murray's punches before he had a chance to reestablish his guard.  In the 4th round as the body work by Franco began to take it's toll, Murray's feet began to slow and his hands dropped slightly, creating openings for Franco's hooks.  A right hand by Franco finally found it's home as Murray slumped to the ropes. Before referee, Kenny Chevalier could step in, another left hook by Franco finished the job and laid Murray flat in a spectacular finish at 2:51 in the 4th round.  Daniel Franco was crowned the IBF USBA Featherweight champion.

Fight Night supports Fight For Children, an organization founded more than 25 years ago that continues to work to improve the quality of education for children of low-income families within the District.   For further information, please visit www.fightforchildren. org.

About the Author:
​Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD. He holds a black belt in Taekwondo and is also a practitioner of Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.

Saturday night was a remarkable evening for boxing in the Maryland area.  The matchmaker for Kings Promotions must have been putting in some extra study time pairing fighters for these evening's card. Nearly every fight on the 8-bout card was a battle of wills and skills with the fighters putting on some fantastic performances for local fans.

​Mykal Fox of Forestville, MD headlined the card which was held at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD.  Fox entered the evening with an 11-0 record with 3 KOs against Juan Rodriguez of Haymarket, VA who had also had 11 pro fights on his record but with mixed results at 6-5 with 5 KOs.
​The two met at the Junior Welterweight weight class in a bout scheduled for 8 rounds.

​At 6' 4", Fox usually has a size and reach advantage against his opponents but it's one thing to have it and another to know how to use it.  At the opening bell, Rodriguez became the aggressor and immediately put pressure on Fox with inside punches to the body backing him into the ropes of the  16 square feet ring.  Fox remained composed and stepped off to spin Rodriguez around delivering his own punishment and catching Rodriguez with a clean left upper cut which produced immediate results, bloodying the nose of Rodriguez in the first minute of the fight. Rodriguez was able to land good  right hands from time to time as he struggled to find ways to get inside. 

Fox marked the second round with his superior movement.  As Rodriguez continued to press the action, Fox would seemingly glide with lateral movement or circling to find angles that appealed to his reach advantage.  The first knock down of the fight came in the third round from a straight left that caught Rodriguez attempting to come in on one of the angles established by Fox.

​Rodriguez was a game competitor as he rose and continued to move forward attempting to attack the body of Fox but was rewarded with  stinging jabs and right crosses that left cuts and welts under both eyes of Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was successful in landing intermittent right hands but was over matched against the technical style of Fox as Rodriguez's right eye went from welts to an open cut that began to affect his performance.  The bout was eventually stopped at 2:00  in the 7th round by referee, Kenny Chevalier saving Rodriguez from further damage in a fight that he was clearly behind in. Fox moves to a record of 12-0 with 4 KOs.

​In the co-main event, Luther Smith of Bowie, MD  squared off against Mike Marshall of Bronx, NY in a 6 round contest.  This would be Luther Smith's debut at cruiserweight taking advantage of his natural body frame and moving down from the heavyweight division where he began is career.  In his last fight against Mike "Silverback" Balogun, he gave up nearly 25 pounds on the receiving end of a second round knock out.

Marshall found himself in trouble early as he seemingly wanted to play the role of counter puncher but didn't have a lot of answers for Smith's combinations in the first round. Marshall was standing a bit upright early on and allowing his back to find the ropes when Smith connected on more combinations to put Smith down for the first time in the round.  Marshall beat the count and was able to answer the call to continue but his hands were hanging chest high as Smith cautiously jabbed his way in from his southpaw stance to continue his assault. 

Closing in on the end of the first round,  Smith was finding a home for both hands as Marshall couldn't find the timing or the movement to counter the steady barrage of straights and hooks coming to his head. With the 10 second sticks announcing the close of the round, Smith closed the distance on Marshall placing him in the corner and putting his weight behind a flurry of punches that dropped the Bronx native face first onto canvas in 2:55 of the first round ending the bout in a KO.

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​UNDERCARD RESULTS

• Super Middleweight: Patrick Rivera won by unanimous decision over Hakeem Atkinson .
• Junior Featherweight: Marcus Bates defeated by Francisco Muro by KO in the 6th round.
• Junior Middleweight: Justin Hurd won by unanimous decision over Hector Mercado .
• Junior Welterweight: Greg Outlaw Jr. won by unanimous decision over Lamont White .
• Junior Welterweight: Kent Cruz defeated Darius Ervin by KO in the 4th round.
• Junior Featherweight: Jordan White won by unanimous decision over José Elizondo.

​More photos of the evening can be found at https://www.facebook.com/dmvcombat/.  For more information on King's Promotions and future fights go to http://www.kpboxing.com.

About the Author:
​Darryl Keeton is an avid striking, grappling and wrestling fan living in Upper Marlboro, MD. He holds a black belt in Taekwondo and is also a practitioner of Combat Jujutsu, Boxing and Muay Thai.