Results and Commentary on 'Fighting on the U'!

As I said in my scale watch on this show, The "Fighting on the U" card was going to be interesting. It turned out to be more than that. It was exciting in spots and very controversial in others.

First, promoter Cassandra White along with her matchmaker Jack Crider, deserve MAJOR kudos! They put together a solid card that put local boxers on display the way it should be done!

I must say that the card was hampered by a force neither White nor Crider could control. That force was the inexperience of two of the referees working the contest. I say this knowing full well that refereeing in boxing is one of the toughest jobs in all of sports,

For Nick Ellis and Oliver Murray, it was a tough night in many respects. I don't remember seeing Ellis before. I met Murray during the week of the McBride-Tyson card and he may have worked a bout during that show, but I can't remember. As we walk through the card, you'll see what I mean.

Let's start right up top with the main event. Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan remained undefeated with a devastating first round TKO over Lloyd "Jabba" Bryan to win the Tri-State Cruiserweight championship. Buchanan came out firing in this one. Offensively, he was as good as I have ever seen him. Bryan truly had no defense against him. When the bout was stopped at 2:52 of the round by veteran referee Joe Cooper, the Bryan corner complained vehemently, but in this case, Cooper prevented a more perilous fate from happening to Bryan. Buchanan was sharp, accurate and, as we both said in my interview with him, he has matured greatly as a boxer. In my opinion, Buchanan has matured greatly as a person also.

Buchanan is now 13-0 with 11 KO's while Bryan falls to 21-13 with nine KO's.

The controversy came in the co-feature where Dante Craig stopped Purcell Miller in the second round. Miller brought his signature fanfare with him. Yes, the band returned in grand fashion as they came down the aisle of the Lincoln Theatre.
To his credit, Craig seemed unfazed by the fanfare.

The bout had the makings of a "fight of the year" candidate. Both men threw and took vicious shots from each other for a round and a half. The bout took on a noticable pattern: Each boxer would get the other in trouble before the other would fight back.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the pattern unfold to a definite conclusion. Midway through the second round, Miller had Craig in trouble as he was pummeling Craig against the ropes. Craig, however, fought back and gained an advantage. With about 30 seconds to go in the round, Craig backed up Miller and began his assault. Yes, Miller was taking shots, but it looked to me that he was moving his head to avoid the shots and Craig's punches weren't truly hurting him. However, referee Ellis saw it differently and called a halt to the bout at 2:59 of the round.

The fans were irate. It did not look like a good stoppage from my vantage point at ringside. It was a tough decision for Ellis to make, however.

I did talk to one veteran fighter (who I won't name) who made a very good point about the stoppage, however. When Craig was against the ropes, he had his hands UP. When Miller was against the ropes, he had his hands DOWN. That was very true and that can be taken as a clear signal that a man is unable to defend himself. That may have been what Ellis thought. Any referee, with or without experience, would have to make that call in that situation.

The fans and my disagreement with Ellis's stoppage comes from the fact that we know Miller is a tough guy with a good chin. Ellis may not have been aware of that. I will say this for Ellis. He made his call without any hesitation. He stuck by it. I didn't agree with it, but I have to applaud his decisiveness.

Miller's record falls to 21-4-1, 17 KO's. Craig scores his seventh straight victory and raises his record to 16-4-1 with 12 KO's.

Two other Beltway Boxers had solid outings last night. DC junior welterweight Reggie "The Mechanic" Holly bounced back strong from a tough outing last November to put on a virtuoso performance scoring an easy four-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Ken Humphreys of Ripley, TN.

Last November at the Show Place Arena, Holly fought a guy in Sheldon Rudolph that pressured him throughout and Holly couldn't get Rudolph off him. This time, Holly fought a guy that was tailor made for him. Holly used jabs, combinations and kept Humphreys at bay throughout the contest. He was very accurate and scored a knockdown late in the contest. I did not think it was a knockdown because the feet were tangled in the situation. Referee Murray saw it differently, however.

The last time I saw Holly, he was heading to a nearby hospital after taking that beating in November. To come back and put on as great of a performance as he did shows volumes about his abilities and his character. Judges Steve Rados and Tammye Jenkins scored the bout 40-35 while Paul Artisst saw the contest 40-36. I agreed with Rados and Jenkins.

Holly is now 6-1, with two KO's. Humphreys is now 2-1, two KO's.

We also got our first local look at a young man who could make some serious waves in this area. Featherweight Thomas "KO" Snow of Capitol Heights made short work of Corey Hope of Philadelphia, scoring a first round TKO. Snow showed good power very early in this contest, pummeling Hope throughout. Hope had no hope in surviving this one. The bout was stopped at 1:51 of the first.

Snow is now 3-0, three KO's. Hope is 0-3.

The closest bout of the night was the women's bout. Cambridge, MD junior welterweight Angel "Saumnice" McNamara won a six-round decision over Cynthia "Sunshine" Jones. (Note I didn't say what type of decision. I'll say why in a moment.)

At some points in this contest, McNamara looked in trouble. Jones did a great job in pressuring her. McNamara fought back bravely and gained advantages throughout. Both ladies and their corners deserve a lot of credit for making adjustments throughout the contest. This made for a very exciting contest. McNamara had a lot of power down the stretch and that may have been the difference.

There was a mistake made in the decision. When ring announcer Nino Del Buono announced the scores, he announced a majority decision for McNamara. Judges Jenkins and Rados's scores were 39-37. Judge Artisst's score was read as 38-38. However, Artisst told me that his score was tabulated incorrectly and should have been 39-37 as well. Therefore it should go down as a unanimous decision for McNamara.

With the win, McNamara breaks a three-bout losing streak and raises her record to 6-4-1, two KO's. Jones now has lost six straight bouts and falls to 1-6, one KO.

In the opening contest, heavyweight Scott "Duke" Buchanan of DC made his long awaited pro debut a successful one with a first round KO over Felton Worrell of Manassas, VA. Buchanan has been a familiar face around the local gyms for a long time and it was good to see him finally start his pro career.

Buchanan pummelled Worrell throughout and this was really where the referee controversy started. In this bout, referee Ellis saw Worrell take a serious beating and hesitated before making the stop at 2:10 of the round. It was a rough stoppage, one that could have resulted in Worrell being seriously injured. I wonder if that played in Ellis' mind during the Miller-Craig matchup? Only Ellis knows for sure.

Worrell was also making his pro debut during that bout.

In another matchup on the card, undefeated heavyweight Faruq "The Dream" Saleem of Newark, New Jersey used a 68-pound weight advantage and a sizable height advantage to pummel Hillsborough, NC's Eric Starr and score a second-round TKO. Truthfully, the less said about this one, the better. Starr was moving up from the light heavyweight and cruiserweight ranks and was no match for the towering Saleem.

Saleem raised his record to a lofty 35-0, 31 KO's. Starr falls to 14-24-2, four KO's.

So overall a very good first outing for promoter Cassandra White. Quite honestly, she seemed to be a nervous wreck during this, as could be expected. But it was a solid performance and it looks like there could be some great times for boxing in the Nation's Capital.

My next post will deal with the star power that was in attendance at this card.