December Beltway Schedule Loaded With Important Bouts!

The Beltway Boxing scene will close 2019 with some extremely important bouts.  This month's schedule is absolutely loaded.  Here is what we have so far:

Thursday, December 5th -- The Hanger, Costa Mesa, CA -- Undefeated Temple Hills, MD middleweight D'Mitrius "Big Meech" Ballard will challenge Yamaguchi Falcao of Sao Paolo, Brazil for the vacant NABF Middleweight title.  Ballard (20-0, 13 KO's) last fought on June 20th and suffered a no-decision against Elias Espadas in Atlantic City, NJ.  Espadas suffered a laceration over his left eye due to an accidental head butt.  Falcao (16-1, seven KO's) looks to bounce back from a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Christopher Pearson on May 2nd in Las Vegas, NV.

Friday, December 6th -- 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA -- A quartet of Beltway Boxers will be involved in some solid bouts on a King's Promotions card.

One local boxer will be in the main event as world-ranked welterweight Mykal "The Professor" Fox will battle an opponent to be determined in a 10-round contest.  Fox (21-1, five KO's) is ranked 15th in the world by the WBA and 14th by the IBF and is coming off a dominating 10-round unanimous decision win over Eudy Bernardo on September 14th in Bethlehem, PA.  Fox won that bout by shutout on all three judge's scorecards.  This will be the fourth bout for Fox this year.

Two of the co-feature bouts will showcase Beltway Boxers.  "The Sexy Albanian" Genc Pllana of Hagerstown, MD will be in an eight-round bout against undefeated Kalvin "Hot Sauce" Henderson of Fayetteville, AR.  Pllana (7-1, four KO's) last fought on October 24th and scored a first-round knockout over Alex Lara in Washington, DC.  This will be Pllana's second eight-round encounter.  The first one resulted in Pllana's only loss, a majority decision to Raphael Igbokwe on August 23rd in Houston, TX.  Pllana has also been extremely busy -- this will be his seventh contest of the year.

Henderson (12-0, eight KO's) scored a third-round TKO over Antowyan Aikens on May 10th at the 2300 Arena.  This will be Henderson's third straight trip to that venue.

The other eight-round co-feature will pit DC super bantamweight Marcus "Dreamcrusher" Bates against late substitute Francisco "Rayito" Pedroza of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.  Bates (10-1-1, eight KO's) won his last bout by eight-round unanimous decision over Saul Eduardo Hernandez on August 23rd in Houston.  Bates is ranked 14th in the world by the WBA.  Pedroza (13-9-2, seven KO's) will face a Beltway Boxer for the second straight time.  Pedroza lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Antonio Russell on July 13th in Minneapolis, MN.

This card will also mark the return of undefeated Frederick, MD super middleweight Devar "Jengawar" Ferhadi, who will take on fellow undefeated boxer Vincent Baccus of Okmulgee, OK  in a six-round bout.  Ferhadi (7-0, six KO's) has not fought since August of 2016 when he knocked out Christopher Petty in the third round in Crystal City, VA.  Ferhadi was in his native Kurdistan completing medical school studies during his absence.  Baccus (4-0-1, three KO's) won a five-round unanimous decision over Steven Crowfield on February 23rd in Oklahoma City, OK.

Saturday, December 7th -- Michael & Son Sportsplex, Sterling, VA --  This Ponytail Promotions card features a number of Beltway Boxers.  Undefeated NABO Female Super Featherweight champion "The Dark Menace" Tiara Brown of Washington, DC will be in the main event in an eight-round encounter against Simone Aparecida Da Silva of Sao Vicente, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Brown (9-0, six KO's) comes off an eight-round majority decision win over Vanessa Bradford on October 24th in Brooklyn, NY, making the first defense of her title.  Da Silva (17-13, six KO's) won a 10-round split decision over Caroline Foro Antunes on October 26th in Sao Paulo.  Da Silva has competed in numerous world title bouts.  Also on the card will be Baltimore, MD lightweight Mack "Papi" Allison IV will be in a six-round contest against Mike Fowler of Milwaukee, WI.  Allison (10-3-1, eight KO's) scored a third-round knockout over Varon Webb on the last card at Michael & Son Sportsplex on September 14th.  Fowler (7-24, two KO's) has lost five in a row, including a second-round knockout loss to Israel Mercado on August 22nd in Costa Mesa, CA.

Also scheduled for the card will be Bowie, MD welterweight Marlon "The Machine" Bolen who will battle Baltimore, MD veteran Kevin "The Scarecrow" Womack, Jr. in a four-round bout.  Bolen (2-0, one KO) comes off a four-round unanimous decision victory over Lamont White on April 27th in Vienna, VA.  Womack, Jr. (9-19-4, seven KO's) has suffered back-to-back first-round knockout losses in his last two outings.  Elkridge, MD lightweight "The Red Comet" Dante Cox will face off with Elliott Brown of Erie, PA in a four-round bout.  Cox (4-1, three KO's) stopped Hakim Smith in the second round on August 2nd in Hanover, MD.  Brown (2-12, two KO's) has lost eight in a row, including a four-round unanimous decision defeat to Felix Santana, Jr. on November 2nd in Tampa, FL. The card also marks the return of DC welterweight Dionte "Mr. Untouchable" Burts, who will face tough veteran Matt Murphy of East St. Louis, IL in a bout scheduled for four rounds.  Burts (4-0, two KO's) has not fought since May of 2018 when he won a four-round unanimous decision over David Veras Pena in Hockessin, DE.  Murphy (3-40-4, two KO's) comes off a six-round unanimous decision loss to Antoine Elerson on September 7th in Milwaukee, WI.  This will be Murphy's 11th bout in 2019.  Leesburg, VA cruiserweight Calvin Mends will face the debuting William Brown in a four-round bout.  Mends won his pro debut on the last card at the Michael and Son Sportsplex, defeating Rashad Lipscomb by unanimous decision.  Silver Spring, MD heavyweight George Harris will battle 46-year old Tony Lopez of Yucaipa, CA.  Harris (4-0, four KO's) scored a second-round TKO over Antwaun Taylor on May 18th in DC.  Lopez (1-0, one KO) won his pro debut by first-round TKO over Billy Martin on June 29th in Golden, CO.  A couple of Virginia-based boxers will make pro debuts on this card -- Leesburg's Joelle Flores, Joan Planas of Manassas and Akeem Jackson, originally from Alexandria but now lives in Oxon Hill, MD.

Saturday, December 7th -- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY -- Two Beltway Boxers are slated for this card and both will be in scheduled 10-round bouts.  Richmond, VA middleweight "The Chosen One" Immanuwel Aleem will face Ronald "Akeem" Ellis of Lynn, MA.  Aleem (18-1-2, 11 KO's) fought Matt Korobov to a 10-round majority draw on May 11th in Fairfax, VA.  Ellis (16-1-2, 11 KO's) looks to bounce back from a 10-round majority decision loss to DeAndre Ware on February 1st in Rochester, NY.

Also on this card will be undefeated Hyattsville, MD featherweight Cobia "The Soldier" Breedy who will battle Titus Williams of Elmont, Long Island, NY.  Breedy (14-0, four KO's) makes his second straight trip to Barclays Center.  Last time out, Breedy won a 10-round unanimous decision over Ryan Lee Allen on August 3rd.  Williams (9-2, four KO's) won by first-round TKO over Aaron Echeveste Lopez on July 12th in Queens, NY.

Friday, December 13th -- Mass Mutual Center, Springfield,  MA -- Leesburg, VA cruiserweight Joe Jones will be in an eight-round contest against undefeated Richard "Popeye The Sailor Man" Rivera of Hartford, CT.  Jones (11-1, eight KO's) comes off a six-round unanimous decision win over Twon Smith on June 29th in Laurel, MD.  Rivera (15-0, 12 KO's) last fought on November 1st and knocked out Juan Celin Zapata in the first round in Daytona Beach, FL.

Saturday, December 14 -- Tyson's Playground,  Vienna, VA -- This will be a TAC Promotions card. There will be very few local Boxers scheduled.  So far, the only one is DC welterweight Taurean Venable (0-1).  

Monday, December 16th -- International Convention Center, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa -- Undefeated Bethesda, MD super flyweight Alexandru "Spartan" Marin challenges Gideon Buthelezi of East London for Buthalezi's IBO Super Flyweight title.

Saturday, December 21st -- Copper Box Arena, London, England -- Upper Marlboro, MD middleweight Alantez "SlyAza" Fox will face Liam "The Machine" Williams in a 12-round contest for the right to face WBO Middleweight champion, Demetrius Andrade.

Saturday, December 28th -- State Farm Arena,  Atlanta, GA -- This is the card featuring the bout for the vacant WBA Lightweight title between Baltimore's Gervonta "Tank" Davis and Yuriokis Gamboa of Miami, FL by way of Cuba.  However,  a number of Beltway Boxers will be on this card.  In a 10-round welterweight bout, Baltimore's Malik "Iceman" Hawkins will face fellow undefeated boxer Darwin Price of Houston, TX.  Hawkins (17-0, 10 KO's) last fought on September 20th and scored a first-round knockout over All Rivera in Las Vegas.   Price (16-0, nine KO's) won by fifth-round TKO over former world title contender Bredis Prescott on October 4th in Houston.

In an eight-round contest, Clinton, MD super welterweight Kareem "Reemo" Martin will battle Jeremy Cuevas of Philadelphia, PA.  Martin (13-2-1, four KO's) has been riding a four-bout winning streak that includes a third-round stoppage of Luis Gerardo Avila on July 27th in Baltimore.  Cuevas (12-1, nine KO's) comes off a fourth-round TKO over Rondale Hubbert on October 19th in Philadelphia.

Baltimore lightweight Malik "King" Warren is slated for four-round action against an opponent to be named.  Warren (2-0, two KO's) has scored second-round TKO's in both of his bouts.  The card will also mark the pro debut of Baltimore's Mia "Killabee" Ellis who will take on Crystal Byers of Ohio (0-8).  Ellis, the daughter of trainer Kenny Ellis, has been boxing since the age of four and has competed in numerous amateur bouts around the area.