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Beltway Boxing 2015 was a year where the big question was whether boxers from Washington, DC, Maryland and Northern ******ia would be able to build on the advancements made in 2014.
The answer to that question was a resounding yes as a number of locals moved from prospect to contender and, yes, to champion status. This is why Beltway Boxing 2015 is being called “The Year of Accomplishment.”
No accomplishment was bigger than Gary Russell, Jr. capturing the WBC Featherweight championship on March 28 with a fourth-round TKO over Jhonny Gonzalez in Las Vegas, NV. The year turned out to be a huge one for the Russell Family as younger brother Antonio made his pro debut and the youngest of the boxing Russell brothers — Antuanne — became the first local since Gary, Jr. to make the United States Olympic Team.
Former world champion Lamont Peterson became a mainstay on the new Premier Boxing Champions TV series with two quality bouts — a majority decision loss to Danny Garcia and a majority decision victory over previously-undefeated Dominican Republic Olympic Gold Medalist Felix Diaz that was held in Fairfax, VA on October 17.
Two Beltway pros put themselves in good position to possibly earn title shots sometime in 2016. Antoine Douglas and Dominic Wade won key nationally-televised bouts in 2015 — Douglas had three impressive knockout performances while Wade won a split decision over former world champion Sam Soliman. Both men are ranked in the top 15 by all four major governing bodies.
Beltway prospects started to make key moves in 2015. Junior middleweight Jarrett Hurd had three quality wins including one that introduced him to the national scene — an eye-opening sixth-round TKO over previously-undefeated Frank Galarza on November 14 in Las Vegas. Hurd is now ranked 11th in the world by the WBA.
Mike Reed, the Beltway Boxing Prospect of the Year in 2014, fought five times in 2015 against solid competition, scoring four knockouts along the way. Other prospects, such as D’Mitrius Ballard, Lamont Roach, Jr. and the Fox Brothers (Alantez and Mykal), stayed on the path towards making big moves in 2016.
Beltway Boxers continued to make their mark on national television in 2015. Locals appeared 33 times on national TV — three more than in the previous year. Douglas’s three appearances led the way, followed by two for Peterson, Roach, Jr., Jerry Odom, Gervonta Davis, Cecil McCalla, Jessie Nicklow, and Immanuwel Aleem.
The locals making at least one national TV appearance were Russell, Jr., Hurd, Wade, Ballard, Dusty Hernandez Harrison, Alantez Fox, Cornelius Whitlock, James Stevenson, Joshua Snyder, Emanuel Taylor, Nick Kisner, Alexander Johnson, Ayi Bruce, Tony Thompson, Fernando Guerrero and Thomas Williams.
Internationally, Beltway Boxers appeared on world wide channels — Tony Jeter’s bout against Chris Eubank, Jr. was shown on Sky Sports, Gerome Quigley’s IBA Junior Middleweight title bout appeared on Euro TV. Thompson’s win over Odlandier Solis was shown on 360Sports TV.
Ironically, the accomplishments by our local boxers made it difficult for promoters to put together cards in the Beltway region, as the number of boxers available started to dwindle. There were just 19 pro cards in 2015 compared to 31 in 2014. Maryland had just eight shows in 2015, down from 12 in 2014, DC only had seven shows in 2015, dropping from nine the previous year. Northern ******ia had four cards compared to 10 in 2014.
Here are some individual awards:
The Beltway Boxing Rookie of the Year for 2015 is: Antonio Russell, (5-0, four KO’s), bantamweight, Capitol Heights, MD
Russell, who was named the Outstanding Boxer of the 2013 National Golden Gloves, made his pro debut in Philadelphia, PA on January 31 and scored a second-round knockout of Harold Reyes. Russell was quickly put on the undercards of big bouts — His second contest was on the undercard of the James DeGale-Andre Dirrell bout on May 23rd in Boston, MA. Russell stopped Brandon Garvin in the first round.
Russell traveled to Tampa, FL on July 11 and went the distance for the only time in his career, capturing a four-round unanimous decision over the always-tough Jaxel Marrero on the Keith Thurman-Luis Collazo card.
Russell moved up to the scheduled six-round bouts and scored a second-round TKO over Manuel Rubalcalva on September 12 in Mashantucket, CT on the undercard of the Cornelius Bundrage-Jermall Charlo title bout. Russell ended 2015 with a third-round TKO of another veteran — Eduardo Melendez — on October 30 in Orlando, FL. Look for Russell to make a step up in competition as it seems that he is on a fast track.
The Beltway Boxing Prospect Of The Year for 2015 is…“Swift” Jarrett Hurd (17-0, 11 KO’s), super welterweight, Accokeek, MD
The Al Haymon-signee only had three bouts in 2015 but all three were quality contests. Hurd started the year with a third-round TKO of veteran Eric Mitchell on April 18 in Valley Forge, PA. The bout was Hurd’s first scheduled eight-round contest. Hurd’s next opponent, Jeff Lentz, raised some eyebrows on August 14 in Newark, NJ because, although Lentz was undefeated as a boxer, he only had five contests compared to 15 for Hurd (Lentz was also, however, a talented MMA fighter). Hurd dominated the contest, stopping Lentz in the seventh round.
However, Hurd saved his best performance of 2015 for the last one of his year. In front of a nationally-televised (Showtime) audience, Hurd faced fellow undefeated boxer Frank Galarza on November 14 in Las Vegas, NV. Hurd, participating in his first nationally-televised contest, did not let the bright lights blind him as he knocked down the heavily-favored Galarza in the fourth round, punished Galarza in the fifth and put him away in the sixth as Galarza turned away from Hurd to avoid further punishment, stopping the contest.
The Galarza win gave Hurd instant notoriety and a number 11 ranking by the WBA. Hurd’s entire year became the blueprint of what a prospect wants to do with his career. A remarkable year, indeed.
The Beltway Boxing Knockout Of The Year for 2015 is: Travis Reeves TKO 6 over Samer Barakat, July 9, Tall Cedars Hall, Parkville, MD
Reeves, a native of Baltimore, MD, had to work hard to gain this knockout. The somewhat-awkward Barakat pressured Reeves enough early in the bout to avoid Reeves’s favorite shot, the looping right hand. The problem for Barakat was his inability to provide any challenging offense. This allowed Reeves to continue to figure out how to land his favorite punch.
Late in the fifth round, Reeves finally figured out how to land the overhand right, hurting Barakat with it as the bell rang. Finally in the sixth round, Reeves crumpled Barakat with another brutal overhand right that dropped him in a heap in a neutral corner. The bout was stopped at 1:15. Barakat was carted out of the ring and had to seek treatment at a local hospital. Barakat recovered fully from his injuries.
The Beltway Boxing Bout Of The Year for 2015 is… Jennifer Salinas 10-round unanimous decision over Melissa St. Vil, November 12, Martin’s Valley Mansion, ****eysville, MD
This bout was the feature contest on the Jonathan Ogden Foundation benefit card and the bout turned heads to the ring and away from side conversations that normally take place at charity cards. The two ladies slugged it out for the 10-round duration. St. Vil caught the early advantage by using her solid right hand. However, Salinas started to take control midway through the contest as her straight left hand landed with consistency. Both ladies suffered welts under the eyes as they clashed heads repeatedly. Somehow, one judge saw the bout as an almost runaway for Salinas at 99-91. However, the other two judges scored the bout deservedly much closer at 96-94.
The 2015 Beltway Boxing Card Of The Year Took Place On: July 18, Sphinx Club, Washington, DC — Marq Johns vs. Karl Garcia-Rios, Patrick Harris vs. Rafael Vasquez, Alantez Fox vs. Guillermo Valdes, Mykal Fox vs. Juan Carlos Castillo
This Keystone Boxing card, the second at the Sphinx Club, saw an upset in the main event as previously undefeated Marq Johns lost a six-round unanimous decision to Karl Garcia-Rios. Patrick Harris won his first six-round contest in a unanimous decision against Rafael Vasquez. The Fox Brothers put on solid performances as Alantez scored a first-round knockout and Myke put on a great performance in winning a six-round unanimous decision, Renaldo Gaines won a tough six-round majority decision over the always-game Stephon McIntyre. There were also knockout wins for Eric Hernandez, Albi Sa***aj, Devar Ferhadi and the debuting Shynggyskhan Tazhibay.
The 2015 Beltway Boxers Of The Year are: “Mr.” Gary Russell, Jr. (26-1, 15 KO’s), featherweight, WBC Featherweight champion, Capitol Heights, MD and
Antoine “Action” Douglas (19-0-1, 13 KO’s), middleweight, WBA and WBO International Middleweight champion, Burke, VA
Going into 2015, Russell seemed very confident. In December of 2014, Russell bounced back from losing a majority decision to Vasyl Lomachenko for the WBO Featherweight title with a sterling 10-round unanimous decision to Christopher Martin. The win kept Russell in the conversation for a world title shot.
That opportunity finally came on March 28th in Las Vegas, NV in front of a nationally-televised audience on Showtime. Russell challenged Jhonny Gonzalez for his WBC Featherweight title.
The answer to that question was a resounding yes as a number of locals moved from prospect to contender and, yes, to champion status. This is why Beltway Boxing 2015 is being called “The Year of Accomplishment.”
No accomplishment was bigger than Gary Russell, Jr. capturing the WBC Featherweight championship on March 28 with a fourth-round TKO over Jhonny Gonzalez in Las Vegas, NV. The year turned out to be a huge one for the Russell Family as younger brother Antonio made his pro debut and the youngest of the boxing Russell brothers — Antuanne — became the first local since Gary, Jr. to make the United States Olympic Team.
Former world champion Lamont Peterson became a mainstay on the new Premier Boxing Champions TV series with two quality bouts — a majority decision loss to Danny Garcia and a majority decision victory over previously-undefeated Dominican Republic Olympic Gold Medalist Felix Diaz that was held in Fairfax, VA on October 17.
Two Beltway pros put themselves in good position to possibly earn title shots sometime in 2016. Antoine Douglas and Dominic Wade won key nationally-televised bouts in 2015 — Douglas had three impressive knockout performances while Wade won a split decision over former world champion Sam Soliman. Both men are ranked in the top 15 by all four major governing bodies.
Beltway prospects started to make key moves in 2015. Junior middleweight Jarrett Hurd had three quality wins including one that introduced him to the national scene — an eye-opening sixth-round TKO over previously-undefeated Frank Galarza on November 14 in Las Vegas. Hurd is now ranked 11th in the world by the WBA.
Mike Reed, the Beltway Boxing Prospect of the Year in 2014, fought five times in 2015 against solid competition, scoring four knockouts along the way. Other prospects, such as D’Mitrius Ballard, Lamont Roach, Jr. and the Fox Brothers (Alantez and Mykal), stayed on the path towards making big moves in 2016.
Beltway Boxers continued to make their mark on national television in 2015. Locals appeared 33 times on national TV — three more than in the previous year. Douglas’s three appearances led the way, followed by two for Peterson, Roach, Jr., Jerry Odom, Gervonta Davis, Cecil McCalla, Jessie Nicklow, and Immanuwel Aleem.
The locals making at least one national TV appearance were Russell, Jr., Hurd, Wade, Ballard, Dusty Hernandez Harrison, Alantez Fox, Cornelius Whitlock, James Stevenson, Joshua Snyder, Emanuel Taylor, Nick Kisner, Alexander Johnson, Ayi Bruce, Tony Thompson, Fernando Guerrero and Thomas Williams.
Internationally, Beltway Boxers appeared on world wide channels — Tony Jeter’s bout against Chris Eubank, Jr. was shown on Sky Sports, Gerome Quigley’s IBA Junior Middleweight title bout appeared on Euro TV. Thompson’s win over Odlandier Solis was shown on 360Sports TV.
Ironically, the accomplishments by our local boxers made it difficult for promoters to put together cards in the Beltway region, as the number of boxers available started to dwindle. There were just 19 pro cards in 2015 compared to 31 in 2014. Maryland had just eight shows in 2015, down from 12 in 2014, DC only had seven shows in 2015, dropping from nine the previous year. Northern ******ia had four cards compared to 10 in 2014.
Here are some individual awards:
The Beltway Boxing Rookie of the Year for 2015 is: Antonio Russell, (5-0, four KO’s), bantamweight, Capitol Heights, MD
Russell, who was named the Outstanding Boxer of the 2013 National Golden Gloves, made his pro debut in Philadelphia, PA on January 31 and scored a second-round knockout of Harold Reyes. Russell was quickly put on the undercards of big bouts — His second contest was on the undercard of the James DeGale-Andre Dirrell bout on May 23rd in Boston, MA. Russell stopped Brandon Garvin in the first round.
Russell traveled to Tampa, FL on July 11 and went the distance for the only time in his career, capturing a four-round unanimous decision over the always-tough Jaxel Marrero on the Keith Thurman-Luis Collazo card.
Russell moved up to the scheduled six-round bouts and scored a second-round TKO over Manuel Rubalcalva on September 12 in Mashantucket, CT on the undercard of the Cornelius Bundrage-Jermall Charlo title bout. Russell ended 2015 with a third-round TKO of another veteran — Eduardo Melendez — on October 30 in Orlando, FL. Look for Russell to make a step up in competition as it seems that he is on a fast track.
The Beltway Boxing Prospect Of The Year for 2015 is…“Swift” Jarrett Hurd (17-0, 11 KO’s), super welterweight, Accokeek, MD
The Al Haymon-signee only had three bouts in 2015 but all three were quality contests. Hurd started the year with a third-round TKO of veteran Eric Mitchell on April 18 in Valley Forge, PA. The bout was Hurd’s first scheduled eight-round contest. Hurd’s next opponent, Jeff Lentz, raised some eyebrows on August 14 in Newark, NJ because, although Lentz was undefeated as a boxer, he only had five contests compared to 15 for Hurd (Lentz was also, however, a talented MMA fighter). Hurd dominated the contest, stopping Lentz in the seventh round.
However, Hurd saved his best performance of 2015 for the last one of his year. In front of a nationally-televised (Showtime) audience, Hurd faced fellow undefeated boxer Frank Galarza on November 14 in Las Vegas, NV. Hurd, participating in his first nationally-televised contest, did not let the bright lights blind him as he knocked down the heavily-favored Galarza in the fourth round, punished Galarza in the fifth and put him away in the sixth as Galarza turned away from Hurd to avoid further punishment, stopping the contest.
The Galarza win gave Hurd instant notoriety and a number 11 ranking by the WBA. Hurd’s entire year became the blueprint of what a prospect wants to do with his career. A remarkable year, indeed.
The Beltway Boxing Knockout Of The Year for 2015 is: Travis Reeves TKO 6 over Samer Barakat, July 9, Tall Cedars Hall, Parkville, MD
Reeves, a native of Baltimore, MD, had to work hard to gain this knockout. The somewhat-awkward Barakat pressured Reeves enough early in the bout to avoid Reeves’s favorite shot, the looping right hand. The problem for Barakat was his inability to provide any challenging offense. This allowed Reeves to continue to figure out how to land his favorite punch.
Late in the fifth round, Reeves finally figured out how to land the overhand right, hurting Barakat with it as the bell rang. Finally in the sixth round, Reeves crumpled Barakat with another brutal overhand right that dropped him in a heap in a neutral corner. The bout was stopped at 1:15. Barakat was carted out of the ring and had to seek treatment at a local hospital. Barakat recovered fully from his injuries.
The Beltway Boxing Bout Of The Year for 2015 is… Jennifer Salinas 10-round unanimous decision over Melissa St. Vil, November 12, Martin’s Valley Mansion, ****eysville, MD
This bout was the feature contest on the Jonathan Ogden Foundation benefit card and the bout turned heads to the ring and away from side conversations that normally take place at charity cards. The two ladies slugged it out for the 10-round duration. St. Vil caught the early advantage by using her solid right hand. However, Salinas started to take control midway through the contest as her straight left hand landed with consistency. Both ladies suffered welts under the eyes as they clashed heads repeatedly. Somehow, one judge saw the bout as an almost runaway for Salinas at 99-91. However, the other two judges scored the bout deservedly much closer at 96-94.
The 2015 Beltway Boxing Card Of The Year Took Place On: July 18, Sphinx Club, Washington, DC — Marq Johns vs. Karl Garcia-Rios, Patrick Harris vs. Rafael Vasquez, Alantez Fox vs. Guillermo Valdes, Mykal Fox vs. Juan Carlos Castillo
This Keystone Boxing card, the second at the Sphinx Club, saw an upset in the main event as previously undefeated Marq Johns lost a six-round unanimous decision to Karl Garcia-Rios. Patrick Harris won his first six-round contest in a unanimous decision against Rafael Vasquez. The Fox Brothers put on solid performances as Alantez scored a first-round knockout and Myke put on a great performance in winning a six-round unanimous decision, Renaldo Gaines won a tough six-round majority decision over the always-game Stephon McIntyre. There were also knockout wins for Eric Hernandez, Albi Sa***aj, Devar Ferhadi and the debuting Shynggyskhan Tazhibay.
The 2015 Beltway Boxers Of The Year are: “Mr.” Gary Russell, Jr. (26-1, 15 KO’s), featherweight, WBC Featherweight champion, Capitol Heights, MD and
Antoine “Action” Douglas (19-0-1, 13 KO’s), middleweight, WBA and WBO International Middleweight champion, Burke, VA
Going into 2015, Russell seemed very confident. In December of 2014, Russell bounced back from losing a majority decision to Vasyl Lomachenko for the WBO Featherweight title with a sterling 10-round unanimous decision to Christopher Martin. The win kept Russell in the conversation for a world title shot.
That opportunity finally came on March 28th in Las Vegas, NV in front of a nationally-televised audience on Showtime. Russell challenged Jhonny Gonzalez for his WBC Featherweight title.