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Friday, January 8, 2016

North Carolina Boxers to Watch in 2016

   North Carolina still has quite a few up-and-coming professional fighters to keep an eye on in the coming year. Some have already appeared on the big stage nationally via premium TV networks in such places as Las Vegas and New York. And others just might have the potential to be there soon. Listed below are our best, so if they are coming to your hometown in NC, it’s surely money well spent to go see them.

The fighters listed here had at least one fight in 2015, have 5 or more wins on their record, have won at least one of their last 3 fights, have more wins than losses and, of course, reside and train in North Carolina.

Eli Addison (11-4). In 2006, in a losing effort, Eli went the distance with highly regarded world champion Timothy Bradley and has maintained a fairly good record since then. Eli originates from Winston-Salem, but in recent years has made his home in Charlotte and trains out of Dyme Boxing & Fitness. (Eli's bout with Bradley was prior to Bradley winning championship).

Vernon Alston (8-6-1). Also known as "Antoine Alston", he fights out of Durham.

Lee Campbell (9-2). Lee is a super-middleweight based in Charlotte. He has appeared on nationally televised bouts during his career, which began with a record of 7-0 before his first loss.

Christian Dominguez (7-2). Fights out of Winston-Salem. An exciting and promising young fighter. Christian has lost just once since 2012.

Carlette Ewell (16-8-1). They don’t come much more exciting than Carlette. She will pack the house anywhere she goes. Fighting out of Winston-Salem, Carlette has held several world titles as heavyweight champion.

Jamar Freeman (13-5-2). One of few fighters out of Wilson, North Carolina with wins on his record, Jamar has traveled out of state and fought for titles on several occasions. Though losing his last two fights, watch for Jamar to make a comeback.

Jonathan Haggler (24-4). Jonathan has been around a while, fighting since the year 2000. With a layoff between 2011 and 2015, he came back to score a one-round KO in Greensboro, NC late last year. Yet another Winston-Salem native, he has fought in multiple cities around the country over the years and for heavyweight titles overseas.

Logan Holler (6-0). Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Logan now fights out of Charlotte and trains at Dyme Boxing & Fitness under the tutelage of Coach James Pressley.

Richard Miller (5-0). He remains undefeated in a career just starting in 2014. It will be interesting to see if the streak continues. Richard is from Winston-Salem.

Quinton Rankin (7-2). A definite main event fighter, Quinton (known to friends as “Q”) has a fighting style that brings crowds to their feet in excitement. Q’s only two loses occurred out of state and were perhaps controversial decisions based on poor refereeing or judging in the opponent’s hometown. Since then, Q has won his last 6 fights. Q fights out of Charlotte.

Ebony Rivera (5-0). Fighting out of Fayetteville, Ebony remains undefeated after achieving her 5th straight win on January 16, 2016 against Mexican fighter Mayela Perez in a bout that took place in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Jared Robinson (16-2-1). Undoubtedly one of North Carolina’s best, Jared has held titles in both amateur and professional careers. Jared is yet another of Dyme Boxing & Fitness’ main event fighters under the coaching of legendary trainer James Pressley.

Lamar Russ (15-2). Fighting out of Fayetteville, NC, Lamar began his career with an undefeated record of 14-0 when he took on highly ranked Matthew Macklin in a televised Atlantic City bout. Lamar lost that bout, but took Macklin the 10-round distance and left him severely bruised. Lamar has also served as a sparring partner for world champion Gennady Golovkin. Lamar’s last fight was in 2014, but was added to this list based on exceptional accomplishments over the years and we can only hope he’ll be back in the ring soon.

Matthew Strode (22-2). A super-lightweight from Greensboro, Matthew had a 9-year layoff when returning to fight and win twice in 2015, including a win over an undefeated opponent in a South Carolina venue. In 2004, Matthew won the Continental Boxing Association welterweight title.

Joshua Tufte (19-1). Currently holding several heavyweight titles, Josh is quite possibly the biggest drawer of fans to boxing events in North Carolina when he’s on the card. With just a single loss occurring out of state, it’s just a matter of time before Josh becomes well known on the national stage of boxing. He fights out of Kernersville, NC. Josh has also served as a sparring partner for world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Pablo Velez (5-0-1). Pablo is a super-middleweight fighting out of New Brunswick, NC. He fought four times in 2013 and twice in 2015, remaining undefeated with a draw on his record.

Marselle Walker (6-0). Marselle is a super-middleweight from Charlotte. He began his career in 2014 and since then has remained quite active, reeling off 6 straight wins during a one-year period.

John Williams (15-4-1). We know him as “Spidey”. He has established a good record and fought for titles. Spidey thrilled North Carolina boxing fans on a night he traveled to New York and defeated a highly regarded 19-1 fighter in June of 2014. A member of the Dyme Boxing & Fitness stable in Charlotte, if you are fortunate to have Spidey in your town on fight night, you won’t want to miss it.

James Winchester (17-11). With fights in New York, Las Vegas, California, and other states, battle-tested James “Shotgun” Winchester has had his ups and downs, yet remains active in the ring and his community, offering his guidance to underprivileged kids by showing them how things are done in the gym.

Stanley Wright (5-0). Fighting out of Charlotte, Stanley has reeled off five straight wins in 15 months. Wright, who trains at Stanley's Pro Boxing Gym in Charlotte, is also a Mecklenburg County Sheriff Deputy.


Paco Rivera, North Carolina Boxing Talk Radio & Blog

Twitter: @GAR1680

 

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

A Look Back at 2015 Boxing in North Carolina – By the Numbers

This past year, boxing promoters featured a total of 20 professional boxing events around our state, up from 14 events the previous year. The term “around” may be used loosely, however, as events were held in just 9 cities.

Charlotte (4)
Durham (2)
Fayetteville (1)
Goldsboro (2)
Greensboro (4)
High Point (1)
Raleigh (2)
Reidsville (1)
Winston-Salem (3)

Theory has it that the majority of attendees at local events are family and friends of fighters scheduled in a bout that evening. This is confirmed by the fact that fighters, quite often, are contracted with a commitment to also turn salesman and sell a certain number of tickets to the event. Hey, these are, after all, “club fights”. And while most venues are typically loaded to capacity by the time the first bell sounds, we can’t expect to see average boxing fans in general storming through the gates every time their town features an event, especially when the fan doesn’t see the name Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, or Gennady Golovkin listed on the program sheet of scheduled bouts.

Having attended venues in Miami and New York City, for example, a comparison (though possibly unfair, given the nature of much larger populations) indicates considerable differences with regard to boxing events there and here in North Carolina. In larger cities, the average boxing fan does in fact appear at club fights whether or not they are familiar with any of the boxers on the card, for the mere enjoyment of watching two unknowns beating each other’s brains out. And unlike the oddity sometimes seen in North Carolina boxing venues, whereby the size of the crowd gradually diminishes throughout the evening (as the fighter that various groups came to see is done fighting), the same number of big-city fans arriving at the start of an event, for the most part, are still there when the final bell rings.

Such comparisons may raise the question: are we doing something wrong…or different?

Florida and New York boxing promoters can afford a larger budget and pay fighters higher salaries when its club fights can draw several thousand patrons. North Carolina promoters don’t always have that luxury. But surely there are flaws in how our boxing events are promoted, and it may help to increase the boxing fan base in our regions if certain changes are made.

The very first matter to consider is this: we must begin to take the sport of boxing much more seriously.

All fighters contracted for a bout should be verified as having earned the right to establish himself or herself as a professional prizefighter. This means the boxer has previously competed in the sport, has had a fairly successful amateur career, and has devoted a good amount of hours to rigorous gym training under the guidance of professional trainers.

Taking someone off the streets in Wilson, North Carolina and offering him $100 to get in the ring so he can pad the record of his opponent is not, I repeat, NOT taking the sport seriously enough.

Out of 20 professional boxing events in North Carolina in 2015 (137 bouts), there were 38 bouts with a “boxer” from Wilson. The combined win-loss record of all Wilson fighters appearing during the year is currently 0-79. That’s not a mistype. Not one had a single win on his record entering the ring. And it remained that way when exiting.

If promoters insist on using untrained, unskilled boxers from Wilson, at least match them up against each other. That would be more productive, as it nearly guarantees a win for a Wilson fighter, and fans won’t have such an easy time predicting who will lose.

And possibly get a good fight to boot out of it.


Paco Rivera, GAR1680 North Carolina Boxing Talk Radio & Blog

Twitter: @GAR1680

Monday, November 17, 2014

FIGHT RESULTS: JKN Boxing Promotions in Charlotte, NC (Midnight Rodeo) on Thursday, November 13, 2014

Charlotte's Carrie Flock excites the crowd and gets Unanimous Decision win
 
See full story "JKN Sports brings boxing back to Charlotte" at Boxing247.com
 
Read it HERE
 

Thursday, October 30, 2014

FIGHT RESULTS: Money Mike Promotions Boxing in Charlotte, NC (Music Factory) on Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Quinton Rankin (now 7-2) of Charlotte drops Reggie Miller of Philadelphia
    
     On Tuesday, October 14, 2014, Money Mike Promotions featured eight bouts of professional boxing at the Music Factory venue in Charlotte, North Carolina with several rising hometown prospects training and fighting out of Charlotte. Ten boxers from North Carolina appeared on the card (as shown in bold below).

Records shown are prior to the bout.

John Williams (13-3-1; Charlotte, NC) def. Darrell Jones (3-12-1) by TKO Round 2

Lee Campbell (7-1; Charlotte, NC) def. Mike McFail (12-43-2) by TKO Round 1

Quinton Rankin (6-2; Charlotte, NC) def. Reggie Miller (0-2) by TKO Round 2

Rodney Wallace (4-1; Salisbury, NC) def. Paul Jennette (11-5-1; Greensboro, NC) by UD, 4 Rounds

Marselle Walker (1-0; Charlotte, NC) def. Eric Moody (debut; Wilson, NC) by TKO Round 1

Stanley Wright (1-0; Charlotte, NC) def. Julius Foreman (debut; Wilson) by KO Roound 1

Michael Ray Robinson (1-0) def. Shone Fleming (debut; Wilson, NC) by TKO Round 1

Drew Correll (3-0) def. Sylvester Beard (0-7) by TKO Round 1


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

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

FIGHT RESULTS: Ring of Dreams Promotions Boxing in Winston-Salem, NC on Saturday, October 11, 2014

Jacob Wooley, now fighting out of Charlotte, NC, improves to 2-0

 On Saturday, October 11, Ring of Dreams Promotions featured eight bouts of professional boxing at the South Side Community Center venue in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. All 8 bouts pitted an unbeaten boxer against a fighter with a losing record or making his debut appearance. Every bout ended by TKO in the first or second round with the undefeated fighter getting the win.

Nine boxers fighting out of North Carolina appeared on the card (shown in bold below), with just three getting a win (against an opponent also from North Carolina).


Records shown are prior to the bout.

Jacob Wooley (1-0; Charlotte, NC) def. Tyshaun Guarte (debut; ?, NC) by TKO Round 1
 
Nicholas Thompson (1-0; Burlington, NC) def. Donta Chestnut (0-4; Wilson, NC) by TKO Round 1
 
Richard Miller (2-0; Winston-Salem, NC) def. Marcus Arrington (0-1; Raleigh, NC) by TKO Round 1
 
Headley Scott 2-0 def. Dorian Tyler (0-1; Concord, NC) by TKO Round 1
 
John Joe Nevin 1-0 def. Calvin Stifford (debut; Concord, NC) by TKO Round 1
 
Tyrieshia Douglas 6-0 def. Shanna Allen (0-2; Wilson, NC) by TKO Round 1
 
Ray Ginley 5-0 def. Quincy Miner 3-8 by TKO Round 2
 
Tyrone McKenna 4-0 def. Anthony Dave 0-4-1 by TKO Round 2
 
 
Paco Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk Radio & Blog
Twitter: @GAR1680