Friday, March 20, 2009

Stevenson Keeps Perfect Record in Woodlawn!

The record of Baltimore welterweight James "Keep 'Em Sleepin' Stevenson remained perfect tonight with a second round TKO over Westminster, MD's Ken Dunham in the main event of the Baltimore Pro Boxing card at Martin's West in Woodlawn, MD.

Stevenson dropped Dunham four times using a strong barrage of body shots before referee Gary Camponeschi stopped the contest at 2:35 of the second round. Stevenson is now 7-0, seven KO's while Dunham is now 5-8, three KO's. The knockout earned Stevenson the East Coast Championship and an extra $500.

The co-feature saw Baltimore middleweight Cecil McCalla score a six-round unanimous decision over Anthony "Quick" Little of Akron, OH. McCalla used his poise well to offset Little's slick moves. McCalla is now 6-0, two KO's while Little is 7-11-1, one KO.

Long-time amateur standout Emmanuel "Transformer" Taylor of Edgewood, MD made his long-awaited pro debut and scored a solid first-round TKO over the debuting Damien Butler of Glenarden, MD. Taylor dropped Butler, an amateur standout in his own right with solid body and head shots. The second knockdown saw Butler recoil from Taylor's shots and take a knee. During referee John Gradowski's eight-count, Butler got to his feet, but immediately took another knee forcing Gradowski to stop the bout at 2:50 of the round.

Taylor is scheduled to be on a card in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 31.

Another Beltway Boxer made a solid pro debut -- Baltimore lightweight Angelo "Seek and Destroy" Ward, who won a four-round unanimous decision over Dwayne Martin of Laurel, MD.

Ward managed to turn the seemingly lost skill of body punching into an art form and he landed continuous blows to Martin's stomach and torso. Ward did land enough upstairs to drop Martin in the second round, but it was the body shots that did the damage. Martin is 0-2.

In the bout of the night (and a candidate for Beltway Boxing Bout of the Year) Baltimore junior middleweight Omar Sims and Suitland, MD's Marcus "Spidey" Williams battled to a four-round majority draw. Sims survived two knockdowns in the first minute of action before coming back strong and landing shots against Williams for the bulk of the bout. Judges John Gradowski and Malik Waleed scored the bout even at 37-37 while Judge Dave Greer saw the contest 37-36 for Sims, who is now 1-0-1, one KO. Williams in now 3-0-1, two KO's.

In the opening bout, Laurel, MD's Hannibal Otey won a four-round unanimous decision over Baltimore heavyweight Kevin Johnson. The bout was Otey's first win as a pro and he evens his record at 1-1. Johnson is even at 1-1, one KO.

Here is the BATB Post-Fight Wrap-Up that includes interviews with Emmanuel Taylor and James Stevenson!

Gabcast! Boxing Along the Beltway #153 - Full Report and Interviews from Woodlawn!

"The Fight Doctor" Jerome Spears and I recap a solid night of boxing from Martin's West in Woodlawn. We are joined in interviews by Emmanuel "Transformer" Taylor and James " Keep em' Sleepin Stevenson!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

How good is james?

Gary Digital Williams said...

He definitely has power, but has been moved slowly, to his management's credit. He also has good technical skills. That will help him against his next scheduled opponent, Anthony Little on Friday April 10 at Du Burns.

He's definitely a rising prospect.

Anonymous said...

How does he match up with the other local jr middle weights?

Gary Digital Williams said...

Too soon to tell. I don't know if he'll face a lot of them because he trains with a lot of the good welters, junior middles and middles are.

Technically, he's as good as any of them, but we'll know more when his competition picks up in quality.

Anonymous said...

Gary rank current the top ten middle weight jr middle weights of this area.

Gary Digital Williams said...

It would take some time. I will try but can't promise anything.

Anonymous said...

James "Keep'em Sleepin" Stevenson is actually a welterweight. He has fought heavy a few times and has also fought as light as 143lbs. He will campaign as a welterweight. James should not be considered a light middleweight or a middleweight.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dipshit, how about a "Hey Gary, it'd be cool if you could give us your top 10 rankings for jr. middles in the area."?

Insted of giving an order...

Gary Digital Williams said...

Thanks for that.

You are right about Stevenson. Both guys last night were over 147 and that is why it was a junior middleweight bout.

If I were to rank (which is not easy to do -- I'd rather have the fans vote and come to a consensus instead of one man's opinion) it would probably be a combination of welters, junior middles and middles because of the fluctuation of weights.

Anonymous said...

Also, it's tough to rank 4 round fighters against 8 or 10 round fighters I'd imagine. We have quite a few in that weight class & many are in different stages of their career.

Mine would be:

1. Jimmy Lange

I know, I know... But the guy is durable, composed, & has had some quality wins... albeit in his own backyard.

2. Ishmael Arvin

Goes down easy but I'll be damned if he doesn't always get up again. Good pedigree. Let's see how he does against Ennis who also has no chin.

3. George Rivera

VA boys are coming up. The loss against Rodney Green looks really bad on his resume. I think he'll kick his ass in the rematch.

4. Jessie Nicklow

Would probably have been #2 if he hadn't lost to Rivera... twice!

5. Jason Champion

Mismanaged without a doubt but a really classy fighter.


Bo

Anonymous said...

how come you never have much to say about my fights (cecil).

Anonymous said...

Team Stevenson would like to thank BATB and all of the fans that supported us. We will continue to work hard and put forth tremendous efforts representing BATB to the fullest. We would also like to thank Jake "The Snake" Smith and Baltimore Boxing for putiing together an incredible show. The event was a great showcase of talented boxers from Baltimore. Congratualations to Cecil "AK47" McCalla, Angelo "Seek and Destroy" Ward, Emmanuel "Tranzformer" Taylor, and Hannibal Otey on their victories. A special acknowledgement goes out to Omar Sims for his "Warrior" performance that ended in a draw. This is what boxing is all about. The best boxing is "Boxing Along The Beltway".

Boxing in Baltimore is "Alive" and on the "Rize".

A special thanks goes out to our team and all of the guys that we sparred in preparation for the fight. Thank you everyone!

Team Stevenson

Gary Digital Williams said...

Actually, Cecil, we said more about your performance on the audio portion. You give workmanlike performances that basically follow the same successful pattern.

Quite frankly, I did the report at 12:30 Friday morning and I was trying to get through it so I can go to bed. So charge it to sleep necessity in this case.

Anonymous said...

hey guy's who trains cecil,manny,
and angelo. because they look pretty
good for beginners big up's to the
team.

Anonymous said...

"Keep'Em Sleepin"

Anonymous said...

David Sewell from Charm City Boxing trains Emmanuel 'Manny' Taylor. Cecil McCalla and Angelo Ward trains with the team at Upton Boxing Center. The trainers / coaches names are Calvin Ford, Mack Allison, and Kenny Ellis. They have all done a good job with these boxers.

Anonymous said...

Good job team Upton! Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Good job coach Dave and Charm City Boxing! Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Great show Jake.

Anonymous said...

keep puting them to sleep stvenson good job

Gary Digital Williams said...

One other note on Dave Sewell. He also trains Ishmail Arvin and is now the trainer of Jessie Nicklow.

Anonymous said...

Dave Sewell is also part of James Stevenson's training camp. He was in the corner at the fight. Way to go Dave you are doing a great job over there at Charm City. Kudos to you and your team.