On Friday night, May 27, DC heavyweight Tony "The Tiger" Thompson will head to the Reno Events Center in Reno, NV for a 12-round IBF Title Elimination bout against Maurice "Mo Betta" Harris of East Orange, NJ. The bout will be the main event on this Friday's ESPN2 Friday Night Fights.
This bout is a rematch. Well, sort of. Back in November of 2002, Thompson and Harris met in the finals of Cedric Kushner's Thunderbox "Fistful of Dollars" Tournament in Atlantic City. The bout was only three rounds and neither man's won-loss record was affected by this. However, Harris won the bout and the $100,000 that went with it.
By the way, that tournament had a Beltway Boxing sound to it. The ring announcer was our very own Henry "Discombobulating" Jones and the blow-by-blow announcer was future Washington Redskins radio voice Larry Michael.
Since his July 2008 title loss to Wladimir Klitschko, Thompson (35-2, 23 KO's) has won four straight -- all by knockout. In fact, Thompson has not gone a full distance in a bout since February of 2007. Thompson's last six wins have all ended in TKO's and his loss to Klitschko was stopped in the 11th round.
Harris (24-14-2, 10 KO's) has been on a roll also, winning his last four bouts including a 12-round unanimous decision over Nagy Aguilera for the USBA Heavyweight title on August 6 in Hinckley, MN.
Gary, how do I get it touch with you?
ReplyDeletesend a homing pigeon with a note tied to his leg.
ReplyDeleteNot that difficult. Email me at beltwayboxing@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteI was there at the fights in AC. I enjoyed the card. David Tua fought Russell Chasteen on the undercard and knocked him out cold. Chasteen's foot was twitching. It was scary.
ReplyDeleteTony whipped Jeremy Williams in the first round. I can't remember who he beat in the second. And he lost to Harris in the finals. I think Harris even dropped Tony if I remember correctly. Tim Witherspoon fought on the show. Riddick Bowe was there running around. So were Al Cole and Virgil Hill. I remember Derrick Jefferson crushing Ray Austin. I was talking to Riddick Bowe at the time when Jefferson knocked him out. I think Tony Beat Derrick Jefferson in that one as well.