Updates Aplenty!

There is a lot of news involving upcoming cards and bouts in the area, so we've put them all together here.

I should have a scale watch for the Friday, February 29 Baltimore Pro Boxing card at the Pikesville National Guard Armory tomorrow evening Eastern Time. Undefeated Baltimore middleweight Jessie "The Beast" Nicklow (15-0-1, five KO's) is still slated to battle Rocky Mount, NC veteran Richard "Tiger" Lee Hall (10-20-2, six KO's) in the eight-round main event. Brandywine, MD heavyweight Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell (1-0) is in the four-round co-feature, taking on Maurice Winslow of Wilson, NC (1-3-1, one KO).

By the way, watch this space on Friday evening around 5:45 pm ET for a big announcement concerning Seth Mitchell.

The After Shock Events card on Saturday, March 8 at the All-Star Legacy Gym in Dulles, VA is rounding into shape. As of today, here is how this card looks.

Undefeated Arlington, VA junior welterweight Bayan Jargal (5-0-1, three KO's) will take on Philadelphia's Albert Montague (0-2, hasn't fought since 2005) in a four-round contest.

A countryman of Jargal's, Mongolian native Davii Otgonbayar , will make his pro debut on this card. Otgonbayar, who like Jargal is trained by Willie "The Heat" Taylor and fights out of Arlington, will take on Steve Reid of Coventry, RI (0-3) in a four-round cruiserweight contest.

Also on this card, Dumfries, VA cruiserweight Derek "D-Mos" Amos
(15-25, nine KO's) will battle undefeated Worcester, MA prospect Adam Harris (10-0, seven KO's) in a six-round matchup.

Ashburn, VA bantamweight Andre "Clockwork" Nichols (3-2, two KO's) tries to continue his winning ways as he faces veteran Jhovany Collado of New York (2-6, one KO) in a four-round bout. This will be Collado's third try against a Beltway Boxer as he has lost to Clarence Vinson and Eric Aiken during his career.

Other bouts on the card find "Dangerous" Dana Dunston of Woodbridge, VA (4-1, two KO's) battling Kenneth Farr (0-2) of Rocky Mount, NC in a four-round bout and undefeated Arlington, VA middleweight Tracey Brewer (2-0, one KO) faces Patrick Bozeman of Boston, MA (0-3) in a four-round bout. Undefeated Capitol Heights, MD featherweight Thomas "KO" Snow (10-0, eight KO's) is also scheduled to be a part of this card in a six-round encounter. No word yet on his opponent.

Also slated to make an appearance at this card (in a meet-and-greet only) is former two-time heavyweight champion "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon.


Moving to Saturday, March 15, where we already know that undefeated Waynesboro, VA cruiserweight "JC Superstar" Juan Carlos Robles will challenge "The All-American PrizeFighter" Rob Calloway for Calloway's WBC Continental Americas Cruiserweight title in Allentown, PA.

Now comes word that Charlottsville, VA junior middleweight George "War Time" Rivera has been added to that card. No word yet on his opponent.

Let's now look ahead to Saturday, April 12 at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA. This is a card that will have a number of Beltway Boxers on it by the time the card is completed. One of the main event bouts on the card will be a matchup for the vacant USBA Lightweight title -- Alexandria, VA's Jaime "The Punisher" Palma will take on Philadelphia's Lenny "Hitman" DeVictoria. What's interesting about this matchup was that this bout was scheduled to take place on the May 12, 2007 card at the George Mason University Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA, but Palma suffered a leg injury in training.

Plus, this is a bout that features two men whose careers have taken very similar upward turns recently after suffering rough times early on. Palma (13-10-1, three KO's) once lost four in a row including a devastating first-round knockout defeat to Roshun Parker at the Lincoln Theatre in DC in May of 2004. But Palma has now won six straight and eight of his last 10. DeVictoria had lost five straight but has now won two in a row and three of his last five. Those good fortunes for DeVictoria started with the win over Jason Jordan on that May Patriot Center card.

Bayan Jargal is also slated for this show as is Dorin Spivey. Infinity Boxing Promotions of Richmond and matchmaker Juice Gatling are also bringing in Hector Camacho Jr. and Christy Martin for this show.

There is also big news on the Beltway amateur front. For the next five Saturdays, bouts in the DC Golden Gloves will be taking place at the Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Center in Palmer Park, MD. Action got underway last weekend and I hope to have results and a bout sheet for this week's events between now and Friday. The Finals for the Golden Gloves will be on Friday, March 28 at the Waldorf Jaycees in Waldorf, MD.

Also on March 9-14, many Beltway amateurs will be participating in the 2008 US Future Stars National Championship in Colorado Springs, CO The US Future Stars is the new name for the US Championships. In an interesting move, USA Boxing will award the top two finishers in each weight class a financial bonus -- $1000 for a gold medal and $500 for a silver medal. This is both on the male and female side of the event.

According to USA Boxing, these are the local boxers who will be participating in this event:

Bantamweight (119 pounds): Kevin Lamont Rivers, Oxon Hill, MD

Featherweight (125 pounds): Glenn Dezum, Baltimore, MD

Light Welterweight (141 pounds): Emmanuel Taylor, Edgewood, MD

Light Heavyweight (178 pounds): Thomas Williams, Laurel, MD (Williams is the son of former Beltway heavyweight contender Thomas "Top Dog" Williams)

Super Heavyweight (201+ pounds): Tavon Sol, Baltimore, MD

Women's Flyweight (110 pounds): Gina D'Andrea, Baltimore, MD

Women's Light Middleweight (154 pounds) Franchon Crews, Baltimore, MD (This is actually a drop in weight for Crews, who won three national titles at middleweight [160 pounds])

Women's Heavyweight (189 pounds) Anne Gibbon, Annapolis, MD

Best wishes to all the amateurs and we'll try to keep you posted on their progress!