Harrison, McCalla Win Unanimous Decisions In New Jersey!

Two Beltway Boxers have won unanimous decisions tonight at the Richard Codey Arena in West Orange, NJ.

Dusty Hernandez Harrison of DC won a workmanlike eight-round unanimous decision over Philadelphia, PA's Tim Witherspoon, Jr. in a televised (ESPN2) bout.  Harrison's shots to the body and overall work rate seemed to be the difference in the contest.   Harrison won by a score of 78-74 on all three scorecards.

Harrison is now 20-0, 11 KO's.  Witherspoon falls to 10-4-1, two KO's.

On the undercard, undefeated Baltimore, MD middleweight Cecil McCalla captured a six-round unanimous decision over Eric "Murder" Mitchell of Vero Beach, FL.  McCalla controlled the bout down the stretch, according to reports and won by tallies of 58-56, 59-55 and 60-54.

 McCalla is now 17-0, six KO's while Mitchell is now 23-11-1, 11 KO's.

Amateur Boxing At Club One Saturday!

Beltway Boxing in February will kick off on February 1 with an amateur card at Club One Fitness in Millersville, MD.  Jeter Promotions and Club One Fitness will have a card featuring Club One boxers Amelia Moore, Andre Harris and Alex Gonzalez.

Tickets are $35.  Club One is located at 1131 Benfield Boulevard, Suite M-Q in Millersville.  Call 410-729-3900 for details.

Harrison Weighs 146 For New Jersey Bout!

 (photo by Michael Walters, All-In Entertainment)

Dusty Hernandez Harrison weighed 146 for his eight-round contest with Tim Witherspoon, Jr. Friday night at the Codey Arena in West Orange, NJ.  Witherspoon tipped the scales at 146 1/2.

The bout will open the ESPN2 telecast tonight at 9PM ET.

We have just received word that the bout for Cecil McCalla of Baltimore, MD will take place tonight on the undercard.  McCalla (16-0, six KO's) will take on Eric "Murder" Mitchell of Vero Beach, FL (23-10-1, 11 KO's).  The bout is slated for six rounds.  Both men have not competed in close to a year.

Russell Stops Tamayo In Fourth!

"Mr." Gary Russell, Jr. scored a fourth-round knockout this evening over Miguel Tamayo at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Russell landed a right hook to end the bout at 1:04.

Services Announced For Jim Finley!

The services for legendary DC gym owner Jim Finley have been announced.

The services will be held on Thursday, February 6 at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, 215 Rhode Island Avenue in Northwest DC.

Viewing is from 9:30-11 AM
Funeral is at 11 AM

Russell, Jr. Weighs 127 For Brooklyn Bout!

(Photo by Rich Kane -- Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions)

Gary Russell, Jr. weighed in at 127 pounds for his eight-round nationally-televised contest on Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.  Russell's opponent, Miguel Tamayo, tipped the scales at 126.

The bout will open the Fox Sports 1 telecast Thursday night at 9 PM ET.

Jim Finley, Owner of Finley's Gym, Passes!

 (courtesy of Capitol Hill History.org)

 

His gym on 10th and Maryland Ave., NE was, for decades, the home to a who's who of local and national boxers like Bob Foster, Sugar Ray Leonard and Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson.   It's very walls contained a large portion of Beltway Boxing history. The gym was so famous, it was once featured in a boxing video game. Also, the boxing scenes in the 1973 film Scorpio were filmed there.

We hear word that the owner of Finley's Gym -- Jim Finley -- passed away this morning.  He was 84 years old.

Mr. Finley was born in Greenville, SC in 1929 and came to Washington, DC in 1943.  Mr. Finley was an amateur boxer but also took to fixing cars.  In the 1950's, Finley's Garage opened and, above that garage in 1960, Mr. Finley opened his gym.  The gym was opened to anyone who wanted some real hard core boxing training.  That wasn't exclusive to pro or amateur boxers.  Chuck Brown was a frequent visitor to the gym as was Miles Davis whenever he was in town.  The gym stayed open until 2001.

The gym was, indeed, a museum devoted to the history of Beltway Boxing. The walls and ceiling contained many posters that allowed visitors to reminisce about great moments in local boxing.

Mr. Finley himself was a very humble man who was incredibly nice.  A lot of what we are as the Beltway Boxing community can be traced directly back to James C. Finley.  RIP to a wonderful man and deepest condolences to his family.

Russell, Jr., Harrison Have Back-to-Back TV Appearances This Week!

We mentioned that undefeated Capitol Heights, MD featherweight "Mr." Gary Russell, Jr. will be facing Miguel Tamayo of Mexico on Thursday, January 30 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.  It has now been reported that the eight-round contest will open the telecast of that card on Fox Sports 1 that will begin at 9 PM ET.

Russell's TV appearance will be the first of two back-to-back appearances of Beltway Boxers on National TV (in consecutive weeks).  Friday night at the Codey Arena in West Orange, NJ, Dusty Hernandez Harrison of DC will open the ESPN2 telecast with an eight-rounder against Tim Witherspoon, Jr.  That broadcast will also begin at 9 PM ET.

To recap, here is the list of Beltway Boxers that either have been or will be on National TV in January:

Lamont Peterson
Bayan Jargal
Daniel Attah
Antoine Douglas
Thomas Williams, Jr.
Gary Russell, Jr.
Dusty Hernandez Harrison

Dominic Wade's scheduled appearance on Showtime Extreme was cut due to time restrictions ( unofficial translation: Showtime didn't think Attah would go the distance with Robert Easter, Jr.)

Peterson- Jean Post-Fight Sound!

Here is some post-fight sound from Saturday night.

Lamont Peterson took questions from the press immediately following his win over Dierry Jean.  Here is that brief press conference.



Then I have a brief Post-Fight with some random thoughts about the evening as well as a look ahead to what's coming up.

Beltway Boxers Bring Back Three Gold Medals From USA Nationals!

We now put an exclamation point on what has been a tremendous weekend of Beltway Boxing accomplishments!  Four area amateurs captured medals at the USA Boxing Elite National Championships in Spokane, WA. Three of those medals are of the gold variety.

DC's Malik Jackson won the championship at 114 pounds with a 2-1 victory over Shawn Simpson of Chicago, IL.  This is Jackson's second straight title.

In the female 125-pound division, Tiara Brown of Bladensburg, MD captured gold with a 2-1 decision over Lisa Porter of Valley Village, CA.

In the female 178-pound class, Dara Shen of Alexandria, VA won a 3-0 decision over Heidi Henriksen of St. Louis Park, MN.

The silver went to Franchon Crews of Baltimore, MD who had arguably, the toughest opponent in front of her -- Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields of Flint, MI.  Crews dropped a 3-0 decision.

Congratulations to all!

Peterson Retains IBF Title With Unanimous Decision!

(photo by Mike Greenhill)

Lamont Peterson has successfully defended his IBF Junior Welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over a game Dierry Jean.

After a relatively close four rounds, it seemed as if Peterson felt Jean couldn't hurt him. At round five, Peterson picked up the pace that would eventually lead him to victory.

The scores were:

Pasquale Procopio 115-113

Michael Ancona  118-111

Samuel Conde 116-112.

Peterson is now 32-2-1, 21 KO's while Jean suffers his first pro loss and is now 25-1, 17 KO's. A crowd of 5,668 saw the card.

It has been quite a night.  Good night from DC!

Charlo Retains WBC Continental Americas Title With Unanimous Decision!

Jermell Charlo has won a 10-round unanimous decision over a very tough Gabriel Rosado.

Charlo was extremely accurate and landed some pin point jabs and straight right hands on Rosado who did not take a backward step.  The two boxers clash heads in the fifth and a cut appeared under Rosado's left eye.

Rosado fought through it but couldn't catch up to the speed of Charlo.

Tammye Jenkins scored the bout 97-93, Steve Rados saw the contest, 99-91 and Wayne Smith said Charlo pitched a shutout, 100-90.

Charlo remains undefeated at 23-0, 11 KO's.  Rosado drops to 21-8, 13 KO's.

Main event is next -- Lamont Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KO's) defends his IBF Junior Welterweight title against the undefeated Dierry Jean (25-0, 17 KO's).

Wade Survives Knockdown, Wins Unanimous Decision!

Things didn't start well for Dominic Wade tonight.  First, his bout with Dashon Johnson was shortened from eight rounds to six.  Then the bout was pulled off the Showtime Extreme telecast because the two previous bouts went the distance.

Then, Wade got off to a bad start in the ring when Johnson dropped him with a right hand 15 seconds into the first round.

From there, however, Wade righted the ship and kept Johnson off balance with jabs and body shots to win a unanimous decision.  The scores were 57-56, 58-55 and 59-55.

Wade is now 14-0, 10 KO's.  Johnson falls to 15-14-3, five KO's.

Getting ready for the featured bouts.  First Jermell "Iron Man" Charlo of Houston, TX (22-0, 11 KO's) defends his WBC Continental Americas Junior Middleweight title against Philadelphia, PA's Gabriel "King" Rosado (21-7, 13 KO's). 10 rounds.

Warren Wins Unanimous Decision!

Rau'shee Warren has won an eight-round unanimous decision over German Meraz.  Warren did a nice job pressuring Meraz during the bout.  Warren scored a knockdown in the seventh round and went on to an easy win.

Warren is now 18-0, three KO 's.  Meraz is now 33-27-1, 20 KO's.

Up next: Dominic Wade (13-0, 10 KO's) battles Dashon Johnson of Riverside, CA. This is now a six-round contest.

Attah Drops Unanimous Decision To Easter!

If you believe in moral victories, then Daniel Attah got one tonight at the DC Armory.

The 18-year veteran is the first man to take undefeated knockout artist Robert Easter, Jr. the distance in a bout.  This, despite Attah getting dropped twice along the way.

Easter scored a unanimous decision shutout (80-70) over Attah to raise his record to 9-0, eight KO's.  Attah falls to 28-18-1, 11 KO's.

Now in the ring,  three-time USA Olympian Rau'shee Warren of Cincinnati, OH (17-0, three KO's) battles German Meraz (33-26-1, 20 KO's) of Aqua Prieta, MX.  Eight round bantamweight contest.

Jayakody Suffers Second-Round Stoppage in New York!

We've received word that DC's "Lion of Judah" Nuwan Jayakody suffered a second-round TKO against undefeated Alberto "El Explosivo" Machado of San Juan, PR at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Jayakody reportedly got of to a good start in the first round.  However, in the second round, he was decked by a right hand that stopped him cold.  Jayakody beat the count but was unfit to continue.  The bout was stopped at 1:34 of the second. 

Jayakody is now 2-4-1, two KO's.  Machado is now 6-0, four KO's.

Herring Wins Six-Round Split Decision!

Jamel Herring won a six-round split decision over Antonio Sanchez.  Both guys basically traded shots for the entire contest and neither man was close to going down.

The scores were pretty interesting.  One judge saw the bout 58-56 for Sanchez, while the other two scored the bout 60-54 and 58-56 for Herring.  Didn't understand the 60-54 score.

Herring is now 7-0, four KO's.  Sanchez falls to 5-2-2, three KO's. 

The Showtime Extreme telecast is now underway with Daniel "The Prophet"Attah of DC (28-17-1, 11 KO's) taking on Robert Easter, Jr. of Toledo, OH (8-0, eight KO's).  Eight round lightweight contest.

Action Continues As Herring Faces Sanchez!

We return to action here at the DC Armory as undefeated 2012 US Olympian Jamel Herring of Coram, NY (6-0, four KO's) faces Antonio Sanchez of Bayamon, PR (5-1-2, three KO's) in a six-round lightweight contest.

Ballard Wins By TKO In Third Round When Farr Can't Continue!

D'Mitrius Ballard has won by TKO in the third round.  Marlon Farr suffered a hand injury.  However, Ballard was very dominant in the bout, nailing Farr with his left hand.

The bout was stopped at 18 seconds of the third by referee Michelle Myers.

Ballard is now 4-0, three KO's while Farr is 3-4.

We now take the first of what could be a number of intermissions.

Williams Makes Short Work of Stimmel!

Raynell Williams needed just 67 seconds to stop William Stimmell.  A crushing left hand from Williams dropped Stimmell in his own corner.  Referee Billy Johnson stopped the contest.

Williams is now 3-0, three KO 's while Stimmell falls to 1-3, one KO.

Next bout:  the homecoming for Temple Hills, MD super middleweight D'Mitrius Ballard (3-0, two KO's) as he takes on Marlon Farr of Zephyr Hills, FL (3-3). This is scheduled for four rounds, not six as originally reported.