Thompson Wins Maryland State Heavyweight Title!

I was unable to attend last night's Ballroom Boxing card at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie. I thank my Fightnews.com colleagues Julian Burgower and "Priceless" Steve Price for filing the following report:

Ballroom Boxing at Michael’s Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, MD, last night kicked off its first show of the New Year with almost every fighter on the card hailing from either Philadelphia, PA or the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas, making it a showdown for supremacy with these two traditionally prideful boxing cities.

The main event pitted Tony “The Tiger” Thompson, 26-1 (16), against Brandon “The Beast” Cabell, 8-2-1 (2), for the right to be introduced as the Maryland State Heavyweight Champion.

Thompson, with over twice as many fights on his resume as Cabell, let his experience shine early, fighting out of a southpaw stance and connecting with almost every follow up shot thrown in conjunction with the jab.

Thompson was able to hit a very game Cabell with everything but the kitchen sink in the first three rounds, and in the fourth, threw that in as well, finding the missing ingredient for victory in the body shot. As Thompson cornered and was able to trap Cabell along the ropes, he unleashed a short four-punch combination, mixing the shots both upstairs and down, before Cabell dropped to all fours in a delayed response knockdown.

Cabell was able to beat the count, but did not respond to referee Malik Waleed’s repeated instructions, resulting in a TKO and perhaps changing Thompson’s nickname from “The Tiger” to “The Beastmaster,” now the Maryland State Heavyweight Champion at 2:41 of the fourth round.

The most impressive performance of the evening was undefeated prospect Derek Ennis, of Philadelphia, quickly knocking out usually tough Martinus Clay, a regular in the Ballroom Boxing series.

Ennis came out strong but controlled in picking his shots and finding the right moment to strike upon Clay, Wilson, NC., which took only a little under two minutes. Ennis dropped Clay with a short combination of punches that Clay was unable to recover, not being able to rise in time to beat referee Bill Holms’ count of ten. The official time was 1:55 of the first round. Ennis may be a name to look for in the future, having improved his record to 8-0 (5). Clay drops to 11-11-1 (3).

Junior lightweight Tyrell Samuel also looked good in improving his professional record to 5-0 (3) in punching his way to a fourth round TKO over Raul Rivera in a scheduled four-round bout.

Samuel took control early on in the first three rounds of the fight and in the fourth, twice dropped Rivera with a left hook and right hand, respectively. Rivera rose on both knockdowns, but was given mercy by referee Kenny Chevalier at :32 after being pummeled into the ropes shortly after rising from the second knockdown.

The much anticipated professional debut for Travis Kauffman, the multi-titled and top ranked amateur super heavyweight, almost took a turn in the wrong direction for the Reading, PA native. Jerome Boyers, of Sharon, PA, apparently had no ideas about coming in to be the opponent to showcase to Kauffman, and made his statement early in the first round of their scheduled four-round heavyweight bout.

Halfway through the first round, Boyers connected with a barrage of punches that forced Kauffman to reel back into the ropes. As Boyers looked to take advantage of his situation, referee John Gradowski stopped the action and issued Kauffman a standing eight-count, apparently because the ropes saved Kauffman from going down. Kauffman was able to finish the round, although he took a few more hard shots that made him look uneasy on his feet. Boyers looked as though he had spent all his breath at the rounds end after trying to finish Kauffman off.

In the second round, a still tired Boyers lay on the ropes and allowed Kauffman back into the fight, choosing to cover up and let Kauffman bang away at him. Then, with Boyers still against the ropes, Referee John Gradowski stepped in and called a halt to the contest, much to the displeasure of Boyers and especially the crowd watching the fight, who began chanting their vehement and abrasive discontent of the decision. The official time of the stoppage was 1:49 of the second round.

Also in action were two four-round preliminaries, in which Taurus Corbbery out-pointed Anthony Abrams, 39-36 (twice), 38-37 and Carlos Jones decisioned Lamont Cooper by scores of 39-36 (twice) and 38-37.

In attendance for the event was former two-time world champion Sharmba Mitchell and former two-time champion Vincent Pettway.

The USA Boxing team and the Belarus National Boxing team, who will be facing off in a tournament at Michael’s Eighth Avenue on Tuesday, January 31st, was also in attendance.

Ballroom Boxing is promoted by Michael and Scott Wagner of Michael’s Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, MD.