RESULTS: 2XSalt Ministry Center Boxing Event in Charlotte, N.C. – Saturday, April 20, 2013

Tommy Hill Boxing and Red Leather Sports promotions featured eight professional bouts this past Saturday at the 2XSalt Ministry Center on Queen City Drive in Charlotte. Six fighters from North Carolina appeared on the cards, including a bout matching two of them in the ring. Five of the eight bouts that evening ended in the first round.

In a clash of two heavyweights from North Carolina, Hassan Lee of Charlotte improved his record to 5-3 after defeating Donta Chestnut of Wilson by TKO in the 1st round. The winless Chestnut drops to 0-3.

Boxer and published poet John “Spidey” Williams of Charlotte won a 6-round unanimous decision over  Bryan Abraham of New York in their light-welterweight matchup. Williams is now 11-2-1. Abraham is 6-16-2.
 
In his pro debut, cruiserweight Truman Monk (0-1) of Clinton, North Carolina was TKO'd in round 1 by undefeated Joel Shojgreen (6-0) of Brooklyn, New York.

Super-middleweight  Gregory Joyner (0-5) of Wilson, North Carolina remains winless after losing to the Haitian fighter residing in Florida, Esaie Estimar (3-0). The referee called a halt to the bout after the 1st round ended.

Heavyweight Cornelius Gibbs of Raleigh, North Carolina weighed-in at 241½ for his heavyweight bout against Ytalo Perea, originally from Ecuador and now residing in New York. Gibbs was defeated by 1st-round TKO and falls to 0-2. Perea is now 2-0.

In other bouts that evening, Tracy Rollins (6-0) of Florida gets a 6-round unanimous decision win over James Hope (6-11) of Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Thomas Brown (13-4) of York, South Carolina defeated Joshua Nelson (0-4) of Florida by 1st-round TKO.

Courtney Pennington (5-0) of Brooklyn, New York wins by TKO in round 4 over Jamaal Davis (14-10-1) of Philadelphia.

Paco Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680

Joshua "Too Tuff" Tufte Wins NABA-USA and USBO Heavyweight Titles

Kernersville, North Carolina heavyweight Josh Tufte improved his undefeated record to 12-0 this past Saturday and captured two title belts with a 10-round split decision win over Daniel “The Mountain” Martz in a bout that took place near Martz’s hometown in West Virginia. Daniel Martz’s previously undefeated record dropped to 7-1-1.

The judges scored the fight 97-93 and 96-94 for Tufte and a third judge 96-94 for Martz. Tufte earned the close decision victory by effectively counter-punching his hard-hitting much taller opponent.

Boxrec.com currently shows Joshua Tufte as the 185th best heavyweight in the world out of 1,070 and 65th best in the nation out of 391 ranked fighters. Those rankings are expected to climb with his most recent win.

Josh Tufte can be followed on Twitter @fightchamp2010

Paco Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680 

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Josh Tufte seen here with his team, friends, and family. From left to right: Chris Cosper (manager), Jeff Branch, Allen Branch (trainer), Rick Marsh (cut-man), Danny Akers, Josh Tufte, Kevin Tufte, Tony Hanshaw, Tim Treadaway

Paco Rivera of GAR1680 Boxing Talk Radio & Blog with Joshua “Too Tuff” Tufte (in Winston-Salem).

Boxing Results: The Inn in Greensboro, North Carolina - Saturday, April 13, 2013

This past Saturday, Noel “Shut-Up” Echevarria of Winston-Salem, N.C. remained undefeated with a 4th-round TKO win over Sean Lockhart (5-20-2) of Columbia, South Carolina. Echevarria’s record improved to 10-0. It was Echevarria’s 2nd win over Lockhart. He defeated Lockhart by 4-round unanimous decision on October 27, 2012 at the Music Factory venue in Charlotte, NC.

Christian Dominguez (5-1) of Winston-Salem defeated  John Willoughby (3-18) by unanimous decision in a 4-round bout.
 
Tim Witherspoon Jr. (9-3-1) of Philadelphia wins by 6-round TKO over Andre Baker (10-37-2) of Lumberton, North Carolina.

Mikkel Lespiere (2-0-1) of New York defeated  Antonio Moody (0-3) of Wilson, North Carolina by 1st-round TKO.

Keith Tapia (8-0) of Puerto Rico wins by 3rd-round TKO over Derek Walker (1-10) of Georgia.

Shawn Cameron (4-0) of Brooklyn, New York wins by 3rd-round KO over  Andre Herd (0-1) of Wilmington, North Carolina. Herd was making his pro debut.

The bout between undfeated North Carolina heavyweight Joshua "Too Tuff" Tufte and Robert Dunton of South Carolina was cancelled. Josh Tufte will be fighting in West Virginia on April 20. See "Upcoming North Carolina Boxing Events" above.

Jovan Francois (5-0) of New York vs. Steve Williams (3-0) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina was cancelled.

Steven Matthews (3-0) of Greensboro, North Carolina vs. Shawn Cameron (3-0) of Brooklyn, New York was also cancelled.

Franklin Edmondson of Durham, North Carolina was replaced by Derek Walker in his bout against Keith Tapia.

Paco Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680

Boxing History: The First Professional Bouts in North Carolina

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          The first recorded professional boxing event in the State of North Carolina happened in Charlotte on May 8, 1922, and even back then it was an event in the sport of boxing marred by controversy.

The event was managed by Jimmy Woods, who had announced free access for women. In a Charlotte Observer article dated May 8, 1922, it reads: “Practically all the [American] legion men and their wives and sweethearts will be out to see the affair, and since ladies are free a goodly number are expected to attend. Tickets are on sale at the Tryon drug store and Holbrook’s cigar store.”

The article goes on to indicate how members of the legion in North Carolina developed “an appetite” for the sport while serving in the army, having had a lot more exposure to boxing during what was called The World War, an obvious reference to World War I, years before World War II ever happened.

In the main event that night in Wearn Field ballpark on South Mint Street, following three other bouts that evening promoted by the American Legion, welterweight “Burly Bob” Sullivan of New York was KO’d in the first round by the winless Frankie Lewis of North Carolina. On the following day, Bob Sullivan complained of several “foul blows”, with a crucial foul resulting in the knockout defeat, one that went unnoticed by the referee, Billy Charles. In one statement Sullivan said: “I wish to state that Lewis fouled me once when the referee noticed it and once that the referee did not notice. Lewis struck me far below the belt and in a place and manner that no man can stand.”

The name Frankie Lewis is an alias (AKA) for Jack Turner, whose birth name was actually Melvin Gillikin. The reason for changes of names during his career is unknown. Frankie Lewis was born in Morehead City, North Carolina on April 14, 1899. He retired as a middleweight in 1928 with a record of 22 wins and 14 losses with 17 wins by knockout.

In other bouts that evening:

Jimmy Wood knocked out Whitey Barry in third round.

Kid Gregory knocked out Billie Smith in the third round.

Battling Walsh of Charlotte, North Carolina gets decision win over Kid Penry.

Paco Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680

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Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees Announced at Bojangles' Coliseum Press Conference

This past Thursday, in the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame display room at the Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, representatives of the Hall held a press conference to announce its 2013 inductees. It was mostly Board Member Humpy Wheeler who addressed a gathering that included a number of big names in the world of South and North Carolina Boxing. In attendance were former world heavyweight champion James “Bonecrusher” Smith, former prizefighters and current boxing promoters Krishna Wainright and Kevin Lowther, chairman of United States Amateur Boxing Inc. and 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Clarence Flemings, president of USA Boxing Southeast Region Coach Al Simpson, and a number of representatives speaking for inductees unable to attend, but whom are expected to be at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 19.

The 2013 Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame inductees were named as follows:

Calvin Brock, former professional heavyweight boxer from Charlotte, North Carolina. Brock (31-2) fought Wladimir Klitschko in Madison Square Garden in 2006 and retired from the sport because of an eye injury in 2007 after a split decision loss to Eddie Chambers. Klitschko and Chambers were his only two losses.

Robbie Epps, who was born in Greenville, South Carolina and fought during the 70’s and 80’s. Epps retired in 1983 with a professional record of 31-4 (with 3 of the 4 losses coming in his final 4 bouts).

Clarence Flemings of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Chairman of United States Amateur Boxing Inc., amateur boxing coach, and amateur boxing official.

Brandon Mitchem. Fought professionally from 1996-2007. Grew up in Lincolnton, North Carolina where his father, Randy Mitchem, a former professional boxer during the 1980s and a 2011 Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, began teaching his son how to spar in the basement of their home when Brandon Mitchem was just 6 years old. As an amateur, Mitchem won the 1996 National Golden Gloves and earned a spot as Olympic alternate, losing the Box-Off match to Fernando Vargas. During his career he assisted as a sparring partner for such champions as Bernard Hopkins, Terry Norris, Kostya Tzyu, and William Joppy prior to big fights.

Also inducted were Jay Welch of Conover, North Carolina, an amateur boxer during the 1970s and Olympic hopeful, and Kim Welch.

The 2013 Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on April 19, 2013 at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel; 3315 Scott Futrell Dr, Charlotte, North Carolina (I-85 and Billy Graham Parkway). Additional details of the ceremony will be posted in “Upcoming North Carolina Boxing Events” section (at top of this blog site) when it becomes available.

The ceremony will also include a tribute in the memory of Billy Joe Sharpe of Lexington, South Carolina who passed away at age 68 in December 2011. Billy Joe Sharpe had served as president of South Carolina USA Boxing for 17 years.

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With Krishna Wainright of Join the Fight Productions

At the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame display in Bojangles' Coliseum

With former heavyweight champion, James "Bonecrusher" Smith

Additional photos of the press conference can be seen on the Facebook site for photographer John Davidson: CLICK HERE (Note: you will need to be signed into a Facebook account to view the photos).