Brown, Chambers Highlighted By WBC For Police And Community Work!

Here's a very positive story for these troubling times.  Two Beltway Boxers who also serve as police officers have been honored by the World Boxing Council for their outstanding work in the community.

Washington, DC featherweight Tiara Brown was chosen as one of the WBC's Heroes Of Humanity for her community outreach.  Brown, who was named the DC Officer Of The Year in 2019, was lauded for her work on the front lines during this pandemic.

Owings Mills, MD lightweight Brandon Chambers was honored for his community work as a Baltimore City Police Officer. Chambers was chosen as the Baltimore City Police Officer of the year in 2018 and 2019.  Chambers works in the Neighborhood Services Unit focusing on community policing.  Prior to moving to this unit, Chambers would feed the homeless every week when he would get paid.  At one point he would buy forty cheeseburgers and hand them out at a local homeless shelter.

Chambers is promoted by Jeter Promotions, headed by former WBC Silver Middleweight champion Tony Jeter and his wife, Christen.  Tony Jeter is also a Baltimore City Police Officer.

Brenda Davis, First Lady of Beltway Amateur Boxing, Passes!

(Family photo)

One of the original first families of Beltway Boxing is the Davis Family -- Legendary trainer Adrian, boxing sons Victor and Demetrius and daughter Veeda.

BATB has learned that the matriarch of the family -- "Ms. B" Brenda Davis -- has passed away after a long bout with stage 7 Alzheimer's disease.

For many years, the Davis family were the brains -- and the finances -- behind Round One Gymnasium.  Round One was a legendary facility that was the home to many professional world champions from the Beltway including Sharmba Mitchell, William Joppy, Isra Girgrah Wynn, and Hasim Rahman.  Round One also changed the lives of many amateur boxers throughout the years. Brenda Davis was the driving force on the amateur side -- she was a three-time president of the Potomac Valley Association of USA Boxing and the first female amateur boxing judge in the region.

Brenda Davis's time in the amateurs dates all the way back to the '70s when she would hold bake sales to raise funds so boxers like Sugar Ray Leonard and Derrick Holmes could participate in the Pan American Games as amateurs.

Jeff Novotny, a former amateur boxer who trained at Round One during that time, told Thom Loverro of the Washington Times in a 2018 article about a fundraiser for the Davis Family that no boxer came through the gym without a kind word of encouragement from Ms. B.

"What she did for amateur boxing -- her impact, the amount of time she devoted and the out-of-pocket expenses that she had to help kids is amazing," Novotny told the Times.  "Anyone who passed through here, she had an impact."

On a personal note, Brenda Davis was truly an awesome woman.  My first forays into ring announcing in the early 2000s were on the amateur side and Ms. B was ALWAYS there to help out.  She and I would always exchange signals that would tell me who won the bouts.  Over the years, I interviewed the Davis family for different reasons -- including the struggles they had with keeping Round One afloat.  The gym had many different homes, including one across the street from Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Bladensburg, MD.  I was working at the cemetery at the time and would go over to Round One on my lunch break sometimes just to see how things were.

There is no question that I dearly loved Brenda Davis.  Her legacy continues with the many women who are now involved with the Potomac Valley Association of USA Boxing.  Brenda Davis made it much easier for those ladies -- and many others throughout the country -- to be accepted.  My deepest, deepest condolences to the entire Davis Family and the entire Beltway Boxing Community.