Just decided to put down some thoughts from last night at the DC Armory.
Simply put, it was an amazing night. The crowd was, at many times, electric, especially during the main event. The attendance of 6,823 was as large of a number as I have seen since the Lamont Peterson-Amir Khan championship bout that drew 8,647 to the Washington Convention Center in December of 2011.
The DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission deserves a heap of praise for their handling of the event. Their referees throughout the night -- Kenny Chevalier (who refereed the Quillin-Konecny title bout), Sharon Sands, Dr. Joe Cooper, Mark D'Antillo and David Braslow did an outstanding job.
Any of the local judges -- Tammye Jenkins, Wayne Smith, Paul Wallace, Manuel Vincens and Steve Rados (who was a judge for Quillin-Konecny) -- can replace Gustavo Padilla right now!
Everyone involved with the DC Commission was exceptional and proved to the boxing world that DC is ready for a big step further into the mainstream of the boxing world.
I've never agreed when people say "boxing is back in DC." Boxing never went away from DC. It's always been here. What was proven Saturday night that we can handle the big challenges of a major boxing night and I really do believe great bouts are coming our way in the not too distant future!
Bear with me for one more personal postscript: For those who don't know, there is a pecking order in press row. The first row of seats are usually for deadline media and the bigger media outlets. All other rows are for fringe media and boxing websites. Last night, I (representing Fightnews.com primarily and Boxing Along the Beltway secondarily) was on the front row alongside the likes of The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Ring and ESPN.com. It was a true honor to sit among those that I have admired and respected for so long like Lem Satterfield, Dan Rafael, Thom Loverro, Gene Wang and Kieran Mulvaney! I'd like to think it is a testament to the years I've put in covering this great sport in this great part of the country. It was very humbling!
Once again, DC can feel very proud of itself as it may have, indeed, turned the corner to being a great fight town. There is talk of another big show coming to the Nation's Capitol sometime this summer. With the number of great young boxers we have in this area, it may truly be just a matter of time!
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12 comments:
Congrats Gary and great recap.
I'm still running fast "putting out fires" but a did come up for air for a minute or two. From what I caught on the tube, it showed "very well" on TV as well.
Fight Doctor (J. Spears)
Digital: Two straight nights of great boxing for this region! Don't forget that the DC show was preceded the night before by am impressive display of homegrown boxers at Rosecroft Raceway in Ft. Washington -- club level boxing at its best. The Rosecroft crowd really got into it and were fair, too. Even the guys from out-of-town who lost and fought well got large applause. Bottom line, this was quite a memorable weekend for pro boxing in the Maryland-DC area!
We actually had three cards in seven days including the one last Saturday in Baltimore. I wanted to focus specifically on DC proper in my post.
Inexplicable judging by Gustavo Padilla you say Digital? I think not. That fight was very, very close and deserved a split decision. In fact, I had Shumenov winning as well. If Hopkins won, he won by 1 or 2 points at most. Could have gone either way. Now being an old dude myself and with
Bernard being 49 and fighting so well, my hat is off to the man. It's the most amazing thing in sports today and it probably doesn't get the credit it deserves. It is the equivalent of a 45 plus year old football player being the MVP in the NFL. Truly amazing what Bernard The Alien Hopkins is doing.
Great job! Keep up the good work we all appreciate it.
Great work Gary!!!!!! We love you keep doing what you doing because bigger things is coming in DMV Pro boxing scene..
Two judges scored the bout EXACTLY the same, down to the round, 116-111. I'd take that score. We have to agree to disagree on that one.
116-111 was a generous score. Hard to find 3 rounds for Shumenov. Maybe the first, possibly the second, but he had no plan B. The way to beat Hopkins is to throw 60+ punches a round (see Calzaghe) and smother him with activity. Shumenov could not throw a jab, nor move to his left to neutralize Bernard's right hand. I loved the chorus of "WHAT" as soon as Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced a split decision.
All in all, a great night for DC boxing. Maybe we can get a big fight at Verizon later in the year. Perhaps Garcia v. Peterson? Garcia v. Broner (so we can boo Broner)?
Nice reporting on the undercard GDW.
I'm glad to hear you got the respect you deserved on press row Gary. Hopefully we will move up from the back row eventually as well.
Looking forward to that, Gautham!
Gary, you've sat beside Thom LeV before while covering sporting events. Believe, it's no big deal.
Most important, however, is the notion that someone thinks you shouldn't be, when you are more than worthy - every time!
Here's a funny story about Thom Loverro, who for those that don't know, is a good 350 plus pounds. Before the very first Jimmy Lange fight at The Patriot Center Loverro wrote that Lange would be lucky to draw 1,000 for the event. Johnny Lange told Loverro, "That's okay b/c if your wife and kids come to the fight and are as fat as you we'll still have a full house!" Damn!
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