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