Welcome to our look back at Beltway Boxing 2018! Before we start, on behalf of my writing and podcasting partner, Juan Marshall, I want to thank everyone for their support of what we have done throughout the 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
As usual, we start with an overview of the year, which we call “The Year Of The Status Quo.” For the most part, things stayed the same in 2018 as they did in 2017. The champions remained champions and the contenders remained contenders, although there was some serious improvement in the contender category by the end of the year.
Accokeek, MD’s “Swift” Jarrett Hurd would make the first big impact in the Beltway Boxing scene for 2018 on April 7th, winning a split decision over Erislandy Lara in Las Vegas, NV to become a multi-belt world super welterweight champion and one of the best boxers in the world. The bout was one of the best in the boxing world in 2018. Hurd would defend the titles on December 1st, scoring a fourth-round knockout over Jason Welborn in Los Angeles, CA.
On April 21st, Gervonta “Tank” Davis of Baltimore, MD would win his second world title, capturing the WBA Super Featherweight championship with a third-round decimation of Jesus Cuellar in Brooklyn, NY.
Capitol Heights, MD featherweight “Mr.” Gary Russell, Jr. made his annual appearance and won a unanimous decision over Joseph Diaz, Jr. on May 19th in Oxon Hill, MD to successfully defend his WBC Featherweight title.
The Beltway added a world champion this year as Baltimore’s “Heavy Hitting Diva” Franchon Crews Dezurn won a 10-round majority decision over Maricela Cornejo on September 13th in Las Vegas to capture the WBC Female Super Middleweight championship.
Also, after two tough losses earlier in the year, Tori “Sho Nuff” Nelson would successfully defend her UBF Middleweight championship with a 10-round unanimous decision over Sanna Turunen on December 1st in Washington, DC.
Local boxers would also win a number of regional titles in 2018. Two of the belts would go to Bethesda, MD super flyweight Alexandru “Spartan” Marin. The Romanian native would capture the IBO Inter-Continental title with a second-round knockout of Michael Ruiz, Jr. on April 14th in Norfolk, VA followed by the IBF Inter-Continental title with a 10-round split decision over Bruno Escalante on September 8th in Inglewood, CA.
Upper Marlboro, MD super featherweight Lamont Roach, Jr. would battle Orlando Cruz to a 10-round draw in his first attempt at the WBO International title on April 19th in San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, three months later on July 20th, Roach would travel to Cancun, Mexico to win that same title with a sixth-round stoppage of Deivi Julio Bassa. Roach would defend that title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Alberto Mercado on December 15th in New York City.
The year started roughly for Laurel, MD super middleweight Demond “D’Best At It” Nicholson as he challenged for the NABF Super Middleweight title. Nicholson was knocked out in the seventh round by Jesse Hart on April 28th in Philadelphia, PA. Undeterred, Nicholson would bounce back to win the vacant WBC USNBC Super Middleweight crown with a sixth-round knockout of Isaac Rodrigues on August 18th in Hanover, MD. Nicholson would defend the title with a second-round destruction of Fernando Castaneda on December 8th in Bowie, MD.
Also, Malik "Iceman" Hawkins won the NABA-USA Welterweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Raymond Serrano on March 30th in Philadelphia and "Slick" Nick Kisner won the NABA-USA Cruiserweight championship by unanimous decision over Brian Holstein on March 2nd in Columbus, OH.
Locally, Beltway Boxing took a slight tumble in the number of cards. There were 19 cards in 2018. Maryland fell from 11 cards in 2017 to seven in 2018. DC had four cards in 2018 compared to five the previous year. Only Northern Virginia made a slight improvement, moving up one to four cards compared to three in 2017.
While the number of cards decreased, the amount of new venues in the Beltway increased. Washington unveiled the Entertainment and Sports Arena in December. Maryland had cards at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Live! Casino in Hanover and two shows at Bowie State University’s AC Jordan Arena. Virginia went the fitness location route, having cards at the Michael and Son Sportsplex at Dulles in Sterling and Tysons Playground in Vienna.
Beltway Boxers were featured on national TV 16 times in 2018 with Tori Nelson, Jarrett Hurd, Lamont Roach, Jr. and Demond Nicholson each on twice. Other locals on TV included Gervonta Davis, Mike Reed, Lamont Peterson, Glenn Dezurn, Jr., Franchon Crews Dezurn,
Gary Russell, Jr., Mykal Fox and DeMarcus Corley (against one another), Antonio Russell and Jessie Nicklow.
On the amateur side, much of the news centered around the Alexandria, VA trio of Keyshawn Davis, Troy Isley and Amelia Moore. All three rose to elite status in 2018 and represented Team USA in many events around the world.
Davis, a lightweight, had an outstanding year, winning a gold medal at the Strandja Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, a silver at the Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany and a gold medal at the USA Championships in Salt Lake City, UT.
Isley, a middleweight, would win a silver at the Strandja Tournament and, along with Davis compete in numerous dual meets for Team USA in Massachusetts, Tennessee and the Netherlands.
After a 2017 where she won four major championships, Moore joined the USA Women’s Elite team and made an impact in September by winning a gold medal in her first international tournament, the Boxam tournament in Castellon, Spain. All three boxers have qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2019.
Another amateur who had an outstanding year was Jahmal Harvey of Oxon Hill, MD who won championships at the Junior Olympics and USA Nationals in 2018.
Unfortunately, we lost a number of Beltway Boxing legends and other personalities in 2018. We remember:
David Crawford -- Beltway trainer
Frank Gilbert -- Head trainer, Loch Raven Gym
Eugene “Thunder” Hughes -- Owner, Midtown Youth Academy
Dave Jacobs -- Trainer of Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson
John McCain -- Arizona Senator, Presidential Candidate and friend of boxing
Aujee “Quick” Tyler -- Pro Boxer
Scott Wagner -- Promoter of Ballroom Boxing
“Magic” Michael Ward -- Former Beltway Boxer
That's a quick look back at 2018. Tomorrow, our first award -- Rookie Of The Year!
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