More Battle of Virginia Notes!

More information from the Battle of Virginia!

There were a couple of interesting sightings at the Patriot Center. I ran into two men who have not been in the ring in quite some time, but are planning to make in-ring returns soon.

Columbia, MD junior middleweight Tony "Mo Better" Jeter (pronounced JET-er) will be making his return either on Oct. 7 in Millersville, MD or Oct. 14 in Waldorf, MD. Jeter has not been in the ring since October of 2001 when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Kwame Bumphus in Philadelphia. His record is 3-1, 1 NC with three KO's.

And DC junior middleweight Purcell "Hard Rock" Miller will be making his return after a five-year hiatus. Miller was one of the most exciting prospects along the Beltway in the mid to late 90's and he definitely had the best ring entrance in the area as he was accompanied by a full scale brass band as he walked down the aisle. Miller also had loads of talent but has not fought since April of 2000 when he lost a majority decision to Robert "Push Up" Frazier. Miller's record is 21-3, 17 KO's. The only other losses came to perennial contenders Carl Daniels and Raul Frank.

It will be interesting to see what these exciting competitors still have after all these years.

Meanwhile, I also heard some very disturbing news about a boxer in a recent bout. Remember when Luther Smith was stretched in an ESPN bout in Connecticut last month? Well, a very reliable source whom I will not name told me that Smith walked into the ring that night LEGALLY BLIND!

The source told me that there were some questions raised during gym sessions because Smith had trouble avoiding the right hand. Smith said that he was all right. Somehow, Smith faked the eye exam and was allowed to box that night. This is just plain ridiculous!! Hopefully Smith will not try this again.

In happier news, Smith's cousin, featherweight Eric "Mighty Mouse" Aiken, told me he will be fighting for the NABF title against undefeated NABF champ Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero on Dec. 2 in California. The bout will be on ShoBox on Showtime. This looks like a tough one for Aiken because Guerrero has knocked out his last five opponents.

I also had a nice talk with Silver Spring cruiserweight Darnell "The Ding-A-Ling Man" Wilson. Wilson talked to me about his recent loss to Vadim Tokarev in Russia. I plan to print the interview in its entirety later this week, but Wilson said his loss had to do with a sleep deprivation condition he has been battling. I will go into detail when I print the interview.

One other note. I will be talking this week with William Joppy's attorneys concerning this situation with Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan. Joppy's attorneys claim there are some inaccuracies in the Washington Post article as well as the article I wrote for this site and for Fightnews.com (which was basically a rewrite of the Post article). We'll see what happens after the conversation.