Beltway Boxing 2012 -- Rookie Of The Year!

We start our Year-End Awards with the Rookie of the Year selection.

One of the recurring themes of the year was “The Next Wave” where a number of highly-decorated amateurs from the Beltway made the next step of punching for pay.

So it is highly ironic that this year’s top rookie was not a Next Wave candidate.  He started boxing at a late age and, quite honestly, we don’t know how long he will be in the business. However, in 2012, this rookie was busier, more successful and did more traveling than any other first-year boxer in this class.

The Beltway Boxing Rookie of the Year for 2012 is:

Duane Mobley (7-0, five KO’s), heavyweight, Upper Marlboro, MD

Yes, the 37-year-old Mobley was not the highly-decorated amateur that the area was known for.  However, Mobley made more of his first pro year than anyone else, fighting seven times and traveling out of the area on a couple of occasions.

Mobley started his career with a solid, four-round unanimous decision win over Dennis Benson at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA on February 11.  Mobley’s next four bouts would end in knockout victories, although in his third bout against Baltimore’s Kevin Johnson at Henderson Hall in Arlington, VA on June 23, Mobley faced some adversity when Johnson knocked him down in the first.  Mobley recovered and went on to stop Johnson in the third.

Mobley traveled to Rising Sun, Indiana for a first-round knockout victory and had a win by disqualification in Norfolk, VA in his last outing in October.  We’ve heard it say that heavyweights age differently than other boxers – we’ll see if that benefits Mobley in 2013.

Honorable Mention:

Kevin “K-Smoov” Rivers, Jr. (3-0, two KO’s), super featherweight, Palmer Park, MD

One of the most exciting young boxers to turn pro in the Beltway in some time, Rivers lived up to the advance billing with three solid performances in 2012.  Rivers debuted on September 29 in DC and won a four-round unanimous decision over the dangerous David Warren Huffman.  That bout seemed to do wonders for both men’s careers.  Huffman, who came into the bout at 1-7, is 3-1-1 since the Rivers bout. 

Meanwhile, Rivers went on to score two first-round knockouts against Bobby Wooten and Alan Beeman and both were spectacular in nature.  Rivers will be someone to watch in 2013.

Tyrieshia “Baby Girl” Douglas (2-0, one KO), flyweight, Washington, DC/Baltimore, MD

If women’s boxing plans to use the momentum they received from its debut in the Olympics, boxers like Douglas will have to lead the way.  So far, the 23-year old from DC who trains in Baltimore has lived up to the challenge.  Douglas made her debut on August 4 in DC with a first-round TKO of the equally-debuting Ashley Langston. 

Douglas’s second bout, however, turned a lot of heads at the Jonathan Ogden Foundation card in Cockeysville, MD on November 8.  Facing 2-0 Sherine Thomas, Douglas dominated a solid foe to win a shutout four-round unanimous decision. The two performances earned Douglas Rookie of the Year honors from the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA), who will, no doubt, place a lot of its future on the backs of boxers like Douglas in 2013.

“Swift” Jarrett Hurd (3-0, three KO’s), middleweight, Accokeek, MD

One of the lesser-known of the rookie class coming in, Hurd has made a great impression with three solid knockout victories.   Two of his victories came in the first round but his second contest – a fourth-round knockout over Coy Lambert on November 3 in Washington, DC – that got everyone talking.  Lambert landed face first as a result of a solid straight left hand that immediately stopped what was a competitive contest.  Look for Hurd to keep everyone talking in the coming year.

Greg Newby (4-0, three KO’s), light heavyweight, Washington, DC

Newby has been very busy in his first pro year and the results have been solid.  Newby’s pro debut saw him land a solid body shot to stop the equally-debuting Gavin Hume on August 25 at the Washington Convention Center.  Newby also showed he could perform under the bright lights at Fight Night in DC on November 1 as he stopped Steven Tyner in the third round.  Newby also picked up two wins in seven days in North and South Carolina.

Previous BATB Rookies of the Year:

2006: Jessie Nicklow
2007: Bayan Jargal
2008: Fernando Guerrero
2009: Dominic Wade
2010: Nick Kisner

2011: Dusty Harrison

Tomorrow: Prospect Of The Year!