Monday, May 21, 2018

June Brings Big Bouts!

As we begin to focus on June, we find there will be four cards that will highlight the month and, happily, three of the cards will be in the Beltway.



Let's start with Saturday, June 16 where there will be a card promoted by returning promotional organizations Jeter Promotions and GQ Promotions at a new location for the Beltway -- The Gardens Ice House located at 13800 Old Gunpowder Rd in Laurel, MD.  The main event on the card will feature the "GQ" in GQ Promotions, undefeated Montgomery Village, MD welterweight Gerome Quigley who will be in the biggest bout of his career when he battles Raymond "Tito" Serrano of Philadelphia, PA in a 10-round contest for two regional titles -- the vacant USBA Welterweight championship and the vacant WBC USNBC Welterweight title.

Quigley (18-0, 16 KO's) last fought on August 26 when he scored a second-round TKO over Oscar Padilla in Neu-lensberg, Germany.  The win gained Quigley the German version on the WBU Welterweight title, the fourth regional title that Quigley has won in his career.  Serrano (24-5, 10 KO's) looks to bounce back from a loss in his last bout to another Beltway Boxer, Malik Hawkins, on March 30th in Philadelphia.  Serrano lost a 10-round unanimous decision in a contest for the WBA-USA Welterweight title.

A number of Beltway Boxers are slated to appear on the card including Clinton, MD super featherweight Cobia "The Soldier" Breedy (11-0, four KO's) who just won a six-round unanimous decision over Christopher Martin on May 19th at the MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD.

Also scheduled for the card are middleweight Francisco "The Cisco Kid" Bustos of Rockville, MD (6-0, four KO's), Greenbelt, MD cruiserweight "The Vanilla Gorilla" Sam Crossed (6-0, four KO's),  Fort Washington, MD super middleweight "Platinum Power" Leo Alcanera (2-0), Laurel, MD lightweight Dante Cox (1-0), Oxon Hill, MD welterweight Rashad "Code Blue" Kilpatrick (1-0, one KO), Gaithersburg, MD welterweight Evgueny Metchenov (0-2) and the debuting Marlon Bolen, a welterweight from Clinton, MD.



On Friday, June 22nd, Ashburn, VA's Tori "Sho Nuff" Nelson returns to the ring in a 10-round contest against undefeated middleweight Christina Hammer of Dortmund, Germany for Hammer's WBC and WBO Middleweight titles at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, MI.  The bout is scheduled to be televised on Showtime.

Nelson (17-1-3, two KO's) an 12-time former world champion, will try to bounce back from her first loss, a 10-round unanimous decision to Claressa Shields on January 12th in Verona, NY.  Hammer (22-0, 10 KO's) is coming off a fourth-round TKO over Gifty Ankrau on November 4th in Munich, Germany.  This will be Hammer's 12th defense of the WBO title and her first defense of the WBC championship.  Hammer is also the WBO Super Middleweight champion.

This card will be part of an all-female middleweight championship doubleheader.  The main event will feature Shields against Hanna Gabriels in a bout for the vacant WBA and IBF versions of the title.

Also on the card will be Baltimore, MD super middleweight Franchon Crews Dezurn who will be in a six-round contest against an opponent to be determined.  Dezurn (3-1, one KO) last fought on the same card as Nelson on January 12th and won a six-round unanimous decision over Tiffany Woodard.



The action returns to the Beltway on Friday, June 29th when Shabazz Brothers Promotions brings a card to Martin's West in Woodlawn, MD.  The main event will be a 10-round contest between flyweights Tyrieshia "Lady Tiga" Douglas of Baltimore, MD and Helen "Iron Lady" Joseph of New Haven, CT by way of Nigeria.  This bout was originally scheduled for May 11th in Philadelphia.

Douglas (13-1, six KO's) last fought on November 4th and scored an eighth-round TKO over Crystal Hoy in Ashburn, VA.  Joseph (15-3-1, 10 KO's) has scored three straight second-round knockouts in her last three contests.

Other boxers scheduled to compete on the card include Baltimore featherweight Mack "Papi" Allison IV (7-1-1, seven KO's),  Columbia, MD super middleweight Ashton "The Goon" Sykes (1-1) as well as the Rahman Family -- heavyweight Hasim "Goldblooded" Rahman, Jr. (4-0, three KO's), super middleweight Sharif "C3" Rahman (2-0, two KO's) and their cousin, Mushin Cason, who is a cruiserweight making his pro debut.

The next night, Saturday, June 30th, there will be a Putney Promotions card at the Sphinx Club in Washington, DC. Scheduled to appear in the main event is Oxon Hill, MD lightweight "The Dark Menace" Tiara Brown who will be in a bout against Carla Torres of Cleveland, OH by way of Puerto Rico.  Brown (4-0, two KO's) comes off a four-round unanimous decision win over Natalie King on November 18th at the Merrick Recreation Center in DC.  Torres (5-5) last fought in March of 2017 and lost an eight-round unanimous decision to Sandy Tsagouris in Brampton, Canada.

BATB will have updates on all of these cards and other bouts featuring Beltway Boxers as they become available.

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