Beltway Middleweight Division Elevates: Wade-Golovkin Set For April 23 In California; A. Douglas Battles Soliman, F. Guerrero Faces Harrison March 5 In Pennsylvania!

Twenty years ago, we had two middleweight champions from the Beltway -- Keith Holmes and William Joppy -- who were major parts in elevating the division.

Two decades later, two more local 160-pounders look to make their mark as they face big matches in the next two months.

First, the bout between Dominic "Lights Out" Wade of Largo, MD (18-0, 12 KO's) and fellow undefeated boxer and world champion "Triple G" Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31 KO's) is a done deal and is set for Saturday, April 23 at the Forum in Inglewood, CA.  According to reports, the bout is for all of Golovkin's titles (WBA Super World Middleweight, IBF Middleweight, WBC Interim Middleweight and IBO Middleweight) and will be televised live on HBO.

However, before we even GET to April 23, we have to deal with Saturday, March 5, which now has become a HUGE night for the Beltway.

Not only do we have the Golden Boy Promotions card at the DC Armory that evening that will feature bouts televised by HBO, we now hear that on the VERY SAME NIGHT, Showtime will have a card that will feature undefeated Burke, VA middleweight and 2015 Beltway Boxing Co-Boxer of the Year Antoine "Action" Douglas in a 10-round bout against former world champion Sam Soliman of Melbourne, Australia at the Sands Bethlehem Events Center in Bethlehem, PA. This will be the first Showtime Championship Boxing card Douglas (19-0-1, 13 KO's) will appear on after five bouts on ShoBox.  Soliman (44-13, 18 KO's) will face a Beltway Boxer for the second straight time after losing a close 10-round split decision to Wade on June 26 in Shelton, WA.

And if that wasn't enough, ESPN.com's Dan Rafael is reporting that Fernando Guerrero of Los Angeles, CA by way of Salisbury, MD will take on Detroit, MI's Tony Harrison in a 10-round bout on that card.  Guerrero (28-3, 20 KO's) is coming off a seventh-round TKO win over Daniel Souza Santos on November 13 in Biloxi, MS.  Harrison (22-1, 18 KO's) bounced back from suffering his first pro loss with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Cecil McCalla on October 31 in Houston, TX.