Sunday, July 21, 2013

Recap From Baltimore!

Here is the recap from the Keystone Boxing, Rize Promotions and Kash Kow Promotions card at the Coppin State University Physical Education Complex in Baltimore, MD:

In front of a raucous crowd of fans, Baltimore featherweight Gervonta "Rambo" Davis remained undefeated in the main event with a second-round stoppage of Rafael Casias of Arlington, TX.  Davis's punches landed a brutal cut over Casias's right eye that proved too difficult to close.  The bout was stopped at 2:26 of the second.  Davis is now 4-0, four KO's while Casias falls to 4-8.

Baltimore light heavyweight Willie "For Real" Williams made a triumphant return after an almost three-year absence as he scored a fourth-round TKO over Kentrell Claiborne of Arlington, TX.  Williams got off to a slow start but recovered nicely to wear down Claiborne and stop him at 2:20 of the fourth.  Williams is 13-6-2, four KO's while Claiborne drops to 4-7, three KO's.

In a bout many fans in attendance would rather forget, George "El Terrible" Sosa of Reading, PA stopped Joseph "El Diablo Noir" Judah of Brooklyn, NY after the second round.  Fans booed throughout the contest before the bout was stopped.  According to a ringside doctor, Judah suffered a shoulder injury and could not come out for the third round.  Sosa lifts his record to 8-4, eight KO's.  Judah is now 6-3, one KO.

Baltimore featherweight Glenn Dezurn won his pro debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Marquis Pierce of Phillipsburg, NJ.  Dezurn was very comfortable battling inside and landed more shots than his opponent.  Dezurn scored a shutout on all three cards.  Pierce's record is now 1-1.

Laurel, MD middleweight Demond Nicholson scored a second-round TKO in his pro debut when his punches opened a bad cut on the nose of his opponent, Eli Smith of Wilson, MI.  The bout was stopped at 1:35 of the second round.  Smith is now 0-3-1.

DC-born, Baltimore-based flyweight Tyrieshia "Lady Tyga" Douglas won an impressive four-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Marisol "La Chihuahua" Miranda of Hollywood, FL.  Douglas dropped Miranda with a straight left hand in the third round and went on to the convincing victory, winning 40-35 on all cards.  Douglas is 3-0, one KO.  Miranda falls to 5-6, one KO.

The matchmaker was Brian Dillon.  The ring announcer was Henry "Discombobulating" Jones.

Before we get to the Post-Fight Wrap-Up, let me share three special moments from Saturday night with you.

1.  I know I have mentioned how special the night was personally for me.  To see a place I have announced almost every basketball event in since the building opened in 2009 transformed into a first-class boxing venue was awe-inspiring.  Especially knowing what it took to get this together.  I should say that I had very little to do with the event taking place, except to vouch for the people involved and how exciting it would be.

Coppin State representatives in attendance were very impressed.  Truth be told, the school was behind the project -- the only real issue was how to protect the basketball court that cost more than 100 million dollars.  Once that was settled, the event was going to take place.  The event fits in with the plans the university has to make the PEC available for the community.  They have already hosted graduations there as well. My personal thanks to athletic director Derrick Ramsey and Coppin State athletic hall of famer and TRUE boxing fan Winky (and wife Peaches) Camphor for their roles in helping this event take place.

2.  My credit to the promoters for honoring former IBF Junior Middleweight champion and Baltimore's own Vincent "The Ambassador" Pettway with a nice video tribute during intermission. Pettway became the first world champion from Baltimore in 80 years when he won the IBF title in 1994.  People will never forget his incredible knockout win over Simon Brown at the USAir Arena in April of 1995.

However, Pettway fought more than 25 times in the Baltimore area during his career.  Simply put, Pettway's efforts during his career helped paved the way to have the event at Coppin Saturday night.  Pettway is helping future generations of Baltimore boxers in the same gym he trained in for many years -- the Mack Lewis Eager Street Gym.

3.  What made this night even more special was the return of one of the truly leading ladies of Beltway amateur boxing.  Back in September of 2012, Tracy Thorpe of the South Atlantic Association (SAA) suffered a stroke and spent quite a time in the hospital.  Well, Saturday night, Ms. Thorpe was in attendance and looked wonderful as she was recognized by both the SAA and the Maryland State Athletic Commission.  Just put a nice bow on the night.

To hear more about the actual boxing on the event, here is the Post-Fight Wrap-Up:







19 comments:

Anonymous said...

What was the paid attendance ?
crowd did not look that good

Gary Digital Williams said...

I'm not sure what the paid attendance was but the estimate was about 800. The picture that you may have seen here was earlier in the evening.

It was not a huge crowd but it was more than we get for some Coppin basketball games!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the Keystone Boxing team for putting on a very good show at Coppin! This was the first time that professional boxing has been held on a college campus in Maryland in over 20 years. Hopefully, the door has been opened for other local universities to follow Coppin's lead and to bring pro boxing to their campuses!

Anonymous said...

Great location, great event!

Anonymous said...

Stellar show for a 1st time event!! Hats off to the promotional/marketing team behind this event! Good entertainment & decent crowd. Baltimore needs more of this!!!

Anonymous said...

Had to be @ least 1500 n attendance by the co event/main event. I purchased advance tix & got caught in a horrible storm omw there had it not rained a cpl times the crowd wld prob have been even larger.

Anonymous said...

I've been to several Keystone Boxing events & they were never like this one.. Who's really responsible for this?? Whoever they are they did they thing!

Anonymous said...

Hell Yeah! the best damn show on the east coast. who's ever responsible-please come back. people were lined up for mile to get in. Baltimore outshines DC everytime. This was great!

Anonymous said...

If Keystone would have been 100% promoter they would have ring card girls,had the seats roped off an on an. Go to one of the shows they do at Rosecroft it is way more organized than that show. I hope they do another show in Baltimore not with the 2 so called co promoters.

Anonymous said...

Keystone has been promoting for umpteen yrs so they shld have minor glitches covered like ring card girls & a lil more organization but rarely if ever has a show been as exciting & innovative as the Coppin show (w/o even having liquor involved)! The same dry routine stuff gets boring after a while.. And this was a 1st for the less seasoned involved so n my opinion they did a dam great job & that can't b denied. But to each his own bcuz ppl gon talk & HATERS gon hate regardless.

Anonymous said...

Talk that shit to someone else! You had 534 paying customers. The show failed and you will never have another. It's over! Keystone was just being nice to let you ride their coat-tails in the first place. Your ass tried to get over and you have hurt yourself. I sat you down three days prior and warned your dumb self but na, you just thought you were so damn bright. Same thing with the tile project, your stupid ass refused to listen. Then you wonder why you fail at everything. Now let's see when we have another pro show in Baltimore. I even begged you to have the guys fights others that would last a few rounds, but no you wanted to go against bumbs. Even she (SJ) warned you to step the competition up. You def screwed up. Now who is going to lend you money for another show? You have once again Fu$#@& yourself. Call your man Klien and see if he will back your next bright idea. LMAO

Anonymous said...

Ppl r a trip speakin on stuff they prob have NO clue about!! Bottom line is the fight @ Coppin was great!

Anonymous said...

There won't be another show at Coppin the 2 clowns that co promoted the fights have no clue what they are doing.

Anonymous said...

And neither did ur mother when she let ur father jam that wood in her backside...lol

Anonymous said...

There's no difference between Keystone Boxing and Keystone cops! Lol..

P.S. Duke

Anonymous said...

"Now who is going to lend you money for another show?"

Anonymous said...

Duke is dating a transvestite and its no secret.

Anonymous said...

You should have never bit the hand that fed you. Duke bit the transvestite. LMAO & u MF's

Anonymous said...

The lone sour note of the evening came courtesy of Brooklyn welterweight Joseph Judah, brother of Zab. Matchmaker Brian Dillon told me Judah paid $5,000 for a spot on the card against George Sosa (above) of Reading, Pa., and declined Dillon’s offer of a less competitive opponent. It was a mistake. Sosa came out with purpose from the outset, while Judah looked like he had been hoping to jab and dance his way to victory. Whenever the two drew close enough to do actual damage, Judah would retreat with a nervous look on his face.

By the 2nd, the crowd was booing Judah, who was content to back up and jab while Sosa pursued him. Like his more famous brother, Judah is a southpaw that fights with his left hand cocked. Unfortunately, his left doesn’t pack the same dynamite as his big brother’s. The booing grew louder as the round wore on, while Sosa kept winging hard shots with his hands down. Judah resorted to trying to hold when things get heated, but Sosa kept walking through his punches and punishing him