Beltway Boxing 2017 -- The Year Of The Up And The Down!

Welcome to our look back at Beltway Boxing 2017!  Before we start, on behalf of my writing and broadcasting partner, Juan Marshall, I want to thank everyone for their support of what we have done throughout the year.  It has truly been an interesting year.

As usual, we will hand out year-end awards in six categories:

Rookie of the Year

Prospect of the Year

Knockout of the Year

Bout of the Year

Card of the Year

Boxer of the Year

But we will start with a summary of Beltway Boxing 2017 -- "The Year Of The Up And The Down." That sounds like a crazy title but 2017 was a year that took local boxing fans to the highest of heights early in the year followed by moments late in the year that forces us to question where we are going into 2018.

In the first two months of the year, Beltway Boxers won six titles -- three world and three regional -- a feat not accomplished in more than a decade.

January 14th saw Gervonta Davis win the IBF Junior Lightweight title with a seventh-round TKO over Jose Pedraza in Brooklyn, NY.  On the same card, Immanuwel Aleem won the WBC Silver Middleweight title with a gutsy sixth-round TKO over previously undefeated Ievegen Khytrov.

On January 28th, Lamont Roach, Jr. captured the WBC Youth Silver Super Featherweight championship with a blistering first-round knockout of Alex Valdez in Indio, CA.

In February, locals won two more world titles and another regional title.  On February 18th, Lamont Peterson won his third world belt in his second weight class earning the WBA “Regular” Welterweight title by unanimous decision over David Avaneysan in Cincinnati, OH.

One week later, Jarrett Hurd scored a ninth-round TKO over Tony Harrison in Birmingham, AL to win the IBF Junior Middleweight championship.  On the same card, Alantez Fox took the vacant WBC USNBC Middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Kenneth McNeil.

These big victories in the first two months paved the way for some other great victories later in the year. In March, Antoine Douglas would win a WBC Latino Middleweight title, scoring a second-round TKO in the Dominican Republic.   Also, D’mitrius Ballard won the WBC USNBC Super Middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Adrian Luna on May 18th in Tucson, AZ.

Then, on the same day -- May 20th -- Davis made the first defense of his title in London, England, brutally knocking out Liam Walsh in the third round.  Hours later, Gary Russell, Jr. successfully defended his WBC Featherweight championship with a seventh-round TKO of Oscar Escandon in front of his hometown fans at the MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD. 

Tyrieshia Douglas won the UBF Super Flyweight title on June 17th with a fourth-round TKO over Ebony Rivera at Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD.

On June 30th, Roach would return to Indio to defend his title by scoring a 10-round unanimous decision over Jesus Valdez.  Roach would fight two more times during the year, including one on national TV at the MGM National Harbor Casino.

July saw Gerome Quigley win the USBO Welterweight title at the Sphinx Club in DC capturing a 10-round unanimous decision over Luis Hernandez. Quigley would win a German version of the WBU Middleweight title in August.   Also, Antoine Douglas won the NABA Middleweight title with a fourth-round TKO over Juan DeAngel in Miami, OK.

Hurd would defend his title with a 10th round TKO over former world champion Austin Trout on October 14th in Brooklyn, NY.

On November 21st, Mykal Fox won his first regional title, capturing the UBF All-Americas Welterweight championship with an eight-round unanimous decision over Manuel Alejandro Reyes in Bethlehem, PA.

Fourteen world and regional titles were won in 2017.  It was, overall, a good year for Beltway Boxing.  However, there were a number of defeats and draws during the year that tempered local enthusiasm.

On February 18th, Thomas Williams, Jr. was stopped in the sixth round by Marcus Browne in Cincinnati.

David Grayton fought to a technical draw against former world champion Kermit Cintron on March 17 in Reading, PA.  On the same card, Moshea Aleem lost for the first time, dropping a six-round unanimous decision to Chordale Booker.

On May 6th, Emmanuel Taylor lost by fifth-round TKO to Lucas Matthysee in Las Vegas, NV.  Then on June 10th, Demond Nicholson dropped a six-round split decision to Steve Rolls in Verona, NY.

July 14th saw Glenn Dezurn battle to an eight-round draw against Adam Lopez in Miami, OK.

On August 26th, Davis won by ninth-round TKO over Francisco Fonseca in Las Vegas but lost his IBF Super Featherweight title because he did not make weight.

On October 21st, Alantez Fox suffered a separated shoulder during a unanimous decision loss to former world champion Demetrius Andrade in Verona, NY.

November was a very difficult month for Beltway Boxers.  Two locals lost bouts on November 12th.  Mike Reed was stopped in the second round by Jose Ramirez in Fresno, CA while Dezurn lost an eight-round unanimous decision to Jesse Angel Hernandez in Uniondale, NY.

On November 17, Kareem Martin lost by eight-round unanimous decision to Ryan Karl in Flint, MI.

November 21st saw Grayton lose a tough 10-round unanimous decision to Miguel Cruz in St. Petersburg, FL.

The year ended with two overseas knockout losses on December 16th.  Antoine Douglas was stopped in the seventh round by Gary O’Sullivan in Quebec, Canada while Nick Kisner was knocked out in the fourth round by Ryan Merhy in Charlenoi, Belgium.

Most of these losses throughout the year were quality defeats that took place in front of a national television audience.  Beltway Boxers made 27 appearances on national TV with a record of 13-12-2.  Davis and Dezurn led the way with three TV appearances.  Immanuwel Aleem, Hurd, Grayton and Roach, Jr. had two with Moshea Aleem, Douglas, Reed, Malik Hawkins, Ballard, Taylor, Jordan White, Nicholson, Fox, Davis, Peterson, Williams, Jr., Martin, and Russell, Jr. all with one appearance.  Here’s an interesting stat:  At least one Beltway Boxer appeared on national television in 11 of the 12 months of the year!

The Beltway region hosted 19 cards in 2017, one more than the previous year.  Maryland had a big year, hosting 11 cards compared to just three in 2016.  The MGM National Harbor Casino paid huge dividends to the Free State as four high-profile cards were held there.  All four were nationally televised (two by Showtime, one by HBO and one by ESPN2) and three of the cards featured world title bouts by the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk, Dmitry Bivol and the Beltway’s own Gary Russell, Jr.  Washington, DC hosted five cards down from eight the previous year.  Northern Virginia held just three cards down from seven in 2016.

So, on the pro side, the Beltway Boxing community enters 2018 with some question marks.  Who will rise to the next level? Has the group of boxers called “The Next Wave” some six years ago gone as far as they can?  Will there be more new locations for local cards?  These are just some of the questions that we will find out in 2018.

Beltway Boxing 2017 was very bright on the amateur side as locals won numerous medals and championships around the nation and the world.  Among the highlights:

Troy Isley and Lorenzo Simpson made trips to Germany and acquitted themselves well.  Isley made two trips to Germany, advancing to the semifinals of the Chemistry Cup in Halle in March.  Then he won a bronze medal at the Elite Men’s World Championships in Hamburg in September.  Meanwhile, Simpson was in Frankfurt, Germany in August and captured a silver medal at the Brandenburg Cup.

The year proved to be a breakout year for Amelia Moore as she captured four championships in 2017.  In July, Moore won a Women’s National Golden Gloves championship in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  Later that month, she captured a Ringside World Championship.  In October, Moore won a National PAL title and then capped her year by winning a USA National title in December.

A Beltway Boxer earned the first national Men’s Golden Gloves champion since 2014 as Keyshawn Davis became the first boxer from Virginia to win the title in more than forty years.

All four of the boxers mentioned so far on the amateur side  -- Isley, Simpson, Moore and Davis -- all captured USA National titles in Salt Lake City, UT in December.

Eight more locals -- Travis Best, BJ Santana Brown, Richard Dodson, Jahmal Harvey, Benjamin Johnson, Marcus Luther, Dontae White and Tyreek Williams -- took titles at the National Silver Gloves.

So that is the summary of Beltway Boxing 2017.  Monday, we start our awards with the Rookie Of The Year!