North Carolina BOXING TALK Radio Show - Monday, August 26, 2013

Watch last night's North Carolina Boxing Talk Radio Show...

Time: 18:49

This Show: North Carolina super-middleweight on the rise, Lee Campbell, remains undefeated after defeating an undefeated fighter on the opponent's home turf in Mississippi. - A recap of the Champions East Promotions boxing event in Wilson, North Carolina this past Saturday, August 24 (not all results in yet). - Jared "The Quiet Storm" Robinson (14-0) who fights out of Charlotte, NC is in Germany to spar with a former champ, helping him get his title back. - Reminder about Coach Al Simpson's "First Responders" Boxing Charity event coming up in September.

North Carolina BOXING TALK Radio Show - Monday, August 19, 2013

Time: 24:25

Watch a recording of last night's North Carolina Boxing Talk Radio Show (Monday, August 19, 2013).

THIS SHOW: Recap of World of Champions Promotions boxing event at Centerstage at Noda in Charlotte this past Saturday (8/17/2013). Jared "The Quiet Storm Robinson and Quinton Rankin get KO wins. * Met with veteran pro boxer, Louis Monaco, at ringside. Moving his career from Denver to North Carolina. * How to get DVD of Charlotte boxing event. * John "Spidey" Williams loss in Atlantic City, but he'll come back stronger. * Kernersville, North Carolina undefeated heavyweight Joshua "Too Tuff" Tufte wins over the weekend. * Coach Al Simpson holds "First Responders" Charity Boxing Event in Charlotte next month in memory of 9/11. Police, Firefighters, Sheriffs, and Highway Patrol to box each other for charity. * Champions East promotional company to feature pro boxing event in Wilson, N.C. this coming Saturday. Undefeated Noel "Shut-Up" Echevarria of Winston-Salem on the card.

RESULTS: World of Champions Boxing Event, Centerstage at Noda, Charlotte, NC – 8/17/2013

On Saturday, Bellonora McCallum and World of Champions Promotions featured professional boxing at Centerstage at Noda in Charlotte. Seven bouts were presented in a packed venue of approximately 300 fans, nearly all of them often loudly expressing excitement throughout the evening at the highly entertaining fights.

In the first bout of the evening, Jerry Couzens (1-2) of Florida won his first professional fight after defeating Nathan Francis (4-7) of Illinois by 1st round TKO. The fight was halted by referee Bill Clancy at 1:11.

Next was Tayshawn Autry of Garland, North Carolina, who remains winless with a record of 0-6 after being defeated by a tactful, quick-handed, and hard-punching fighter out of New Jersey, Joshua Reyes, whose record improves to 5-1. The ring doctor checked Autry in the corner following the end of the third round and determined that he may have sustained a broken rib. Result: TKO at 3:00 of Round 3. Note: BoxRec.com shows incorrect stoppage of "Round 1".

Two heavyweights making their debut were Todd Miller (0-1) of North Carolina and Thanasis Michaloudis (1-0), a Greek fighter now residing in the U.S. Miller entered the ring weighing 265 pounds and was clearly overmatched by a more skillful Michaloudis. Miller appeared to be gasping for air midway through the first round and in one instant fell from apparent exhaustion and went through the ropes. He managed to get back up and into the ring to complete the round, but the bout was halted by referee Donnie Jessup at :43 of the 2nd round.

In the fourth fight of the evening, Jeremy Yelton of Forest City, North Carolina was stopped by 2nd round KO, occurring at 2:04, by Thomas Lamanna of New Jersey.

Darryl Johnson (0-4) of Columbia, South Carolina went the distance, toughed it out, and fought back well in spurts in the scheduled four-round bout, but came up short against his opponent from Ohio, Paul Parker, who remains undefeated with a record of 5-0. Parker won by unanimous decision with judges scoring it 39-37, 40-36, 40-35.

In the co-main event of the night, as expected, Jared “The Quiet Storm” Robinson of Charlotte, who is not only undefeated with a record of 14-0, but also considered one of North Carolina’s best fighters and likely a future world champion, easily defeated his opponent, Jahaad Wingfield, by TKO at 1:36 of the 1st round. Wingfield’s record drops to 1-9-1.

In the main event it was Quinton Rankin, also of Charlotte, who hadn’t fought since June 2012 after injuring his hand that year. He later aggravated the injury while sparring with world champion Andre Ward during Ward’s training in California. Yet Rankin came back to the ring in impressive fashion and looking very sharp. And without a hint of ring rust. Rankin now fights under the tutelage of his trainer, Carilius Reese, who is assuring that “Q”, as Quinton Rankin is known to all, will see nothing but wins added to his record for some time to come. Rankin fired accurate punches at a very tough opponent, Jamil Gadsden (0-3), and was able to wear him down, stopping the boxer from New Jersey by KO at 2:34 of round 3.

Paco Rivera, GAR1680 North Carolina Boxing Talk
Twitter: GAR1680

Professional Boxing in Charlotte this Weekend - Saturday, August 17

Charlotte boxing promoter Bellonora McCallum and World of Champions Promotions will feature a boxing event in Charlotte on Saturday, August 17, 2013. North Carolina fighters appearing on the card will be undefeated Jared "The Quiet Storm" Robinson (13-0) of Charlotte and Quinton "Da Fighter" Rankin (5-2), also from Charlotte.

The bouts will take place at Centerstage at Noda, 2315 N. Davidson Street, Charlotte, NC.

Get a discount on advance tickets at the World of Champions website. Go here: WOCBoxing.com.

A Visit to Mid-South Boxing Academy in Concord, NC

What I really like about this place is the really old-fashion boxing gym look, especially the building it’s located in. The gym is on the second floor. The building is about 120 years old, once a factory mill a long time ago. Going up the stairs I get the feeling of going back in time. A very nostalgic feeling! And a great place for MMA or Boxing training!

If you are in the Concord-Kannapolis area, I highly recommend you visit and see Mike Kane.

Mid-South Boxing, LLC
625 Main Street
Concord, North Carolina 28025

Tel. (704) 960-8878

Click on any image to enlarge

 

Owner: Mike Kane

John “Spidey” Williams heads to Atlantic City for HBO Televised Event and Title Bout

John “Spidey the Boxing Poet” Williams (11-2-1)

I walked into the Dyme Boxing & Fitness gym in Charlotte and immediately saw one of its fighters, who in recent years has also become a friend.  John “Spidey the Boxing Poet” Williams approached me with a smile as I greeted him by saying, “Hey, Spidey, what’s going on?” I reached out for his hand to shake it.

Spidey grasped my hand hard and very loudly replied, “Just the biggest fight of my life!”

Spidey will soon be traveling to Atlantic City for an HBO televised event and taking on a formidable opponent, Yordenis Ugas, the Cuban fighter and Olympian now residing in Miami. Aside from winning a gold medal at the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships when he was 19, and then winning gold at the 2007 Pan American Games, Ugas also captured the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the lightweight division.

As a professional, 27-year-old Ugas is now 14-0, with half of those wins (7) coming by way of knockout or TKO. His only loss was by the skin of his teeth, a split-decision defeat to Johnny Garcia back in March of 2012. One judge gave it to Ugas, while the other two had it 76-75 for Garcia in the eight-round bout.

If there is any reason to believe that Ugas’ boxing skills is suspect as a professional, it is that most of his opponents thus far have had poor records, with the exception of the only boxer he lost to, Garcia, who was 11-0 at the time and is currently 16-1.

Though the same may be said of Spidey’s opponent’s records, he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to fight outside of the North Carolina club fights scene. Until now.

Spidey’s first of his two losses was to Demetrius Andrade five years ago in 2009 when Andrade was 6-0. Not only does Andrade remain undefeated today with a record of 19-0, he was scheduled this month for a title shot in a match that got cancelled. He will be fighting for the WBO light-middleweight title in September. It may be said that “the wrong opponent” was matched against Spidey too early in the North Carolinian’s career.

Spidey’s only other loss was a six-round majority decision defeat to Andre Baker in 2011, a loss that was satisfied by redemption the following year when Spidey defeated Baker in the rematch, in February 2012, with a unanimous decision win.

Spidey shook his head at me and expressed how wildly the situation has progressed in his upcoming Atlantic City bout. “First it was scheduled for six rounds,” he said. “Then eight rounds. And now it’s set for ten rounds!” After a pause he continued, “And they added the [vacant] WBC Intercontinental belt to the fight! But, hey, I’m ready. And we got a game plan.”

By “we”, Spidey was obviously referring to his team at the Dyme, which includes his trainer and one of boxing’s best coaches, James Pressley. Others training at Dyme Boxing & Fitness under the tutelage of Pressley include undefeated light-welterweight Jared “The Quiet Storm” Robinson (13-0), former world champion Tavoris Cloud (24-1), heavyweight Hassan Lee (5-3), and a slew of amateur athletes that have had great success in tournaments. Nearly every one of Pressley’s boxing athletes won his bout in this year’s State Golden Gloves Championships in Charlotte.

Spidey, who is 29 years old and also a published poet, may have summed it up for his fans with a recent comment on his Facebook page:

“August 17 my first title shot…I’m bringing that belt home to Charlotte!...When I get it, good luck in getting it back!”


Paco River, GAR1680 North Carolina Boxing Talk Radio & Blog
Twitter: @GAR1680

Note: There are seven bouts thus far scheduled for the boxing event on August 17, 2013 in Atlantic City, New Jersey with the main event that of Daniel Geale vs. Darren Barker. It is unknown at this time if John “Spidey” Williams vs. Yordenis Ugas will be one of the undercard bouts that get televised by HBO.

Spidey Williams can be followed on Twitter @SpideyWilliams