By Michael Amakor at Ringside

Regular boxing fans usually seem to tune in only when star professional boxers fight with a seemingly vexing fixation on the heavyweight division, but true boxing fans come out to watch young fighters from all weight classes battle their way from mediocrity into the rank of championship star contenders.

Keystone Boxing provided just such an event, featuring six of twelve fighters at the very early stages of their professional careers on its fight card at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro Maryland. These 12 fighters were split into four different weight classes and were evenly matched to provide entertaining action. They final results for the evening 4 to 1 in favor of the hometown favorites showcased the depth of talented prospects fighting out of the DC metro area.

In the Main Event of the evening recently crowned USBA Super Featherweight Champion Lamont Pearson picked up the action down the stretch  and peppered Purto Rican Pascalli Adorno with several clean and powerful jabs to win this fight on all judges scored cards 79-73 by unanimous decision.

The feeling out ended after Pearson began to rely on his jab to snap back the head of the game and strong Pascali Adorno fighting off the south paw stance. By the third round it became clear  Pearson was the more technically advanced fighter often times spinning Pascali off of him and landing some winging shots.

Pascalli was in the fight the whole time though and won the 5^th round by my scorecard as he tried to go to the body, but the experienced Pearson slipped and countered most of his punches  effectively bllunting his offensive game.

Pearson improved his record to 23-3-1 (12ko’s) and he is currently ranked number 53 in the world at Lightweight according to Boxrec.com.

The judges all had it 79-73 all in favor of Pearson.

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Sheldon Defeats the Mechanic

They most interesting fight of the evening was the second bout between  flag waving Sheldon Rudolph (3-3,2KOs) of Guyana against undefeated  Washington DC prospect Reggie "The Mechanic" Holly (5-0) in a Welterweight showdown.  

Round One: The Mechanic lands first with a jab, but it is Sheldon who launches the first assault leading to a brief scuffle that sees Sheldon being wrestled to the canvas, he gets up and becomes more aggressive forcing several clinches as the mechanic tried to slow down Sheldon with punishing jabs and body shots, Sheldon keeps the action lively by trading shots of his own. By mid round you got the sense that Holly was picking his shots as he tried to slow down the rush of a bullying minded Sheldon. I scored the round for Sheldon.  

Round 2: Sheldon came out in round two slugging and landing very hard uppercuts that forced the mechanic into the ropes, Sheldon landed a shot that wobbled the mechanic but could not finish him off before running into a bomb himself that stunned him somewhat, he again had the mechanic in trouble again and landed some hellecious body shots to end the round in his favor.

Round 3: Sheldon had the mechanic in reverse for much of this round and it was a repeat of the first two rounds.

Round 4: The Mechanic landed a straight right that forced a wild exchange that saw him land against the ropes and the ref called it a knockdown eliciting boos from the crowd. Sheldon continued his assault and landed a huge shot that catches Holly flush, the crowd roared.

Holly circles and dances around the ring trying to avoid any more bombs from landing and he attacks and suddenly Sheldon is cut over his left eyes. Sheldon pawing at his blood almost finishes Holly to win the round big.

Round 5: Although Holly jabs and punches land accurately, you also realize that he simply could not deal with the pressure of the stronger Sheldon whose heavier punches threw him off his rhythm as he tried to avoid the wild heavy handed bombs from his aggressive foe. I scored the fifth round this round for him.

Round 6: A desperate mechanic presses the action as he goes for broke leading to pillar to post frenetic action as he repeatedly forces Sheldon to the ropes several times trying to batter him into submission, but Sheldon fights beats him on the inside with digging shots to his exposed ribcage and holds his ground against the ropes. Holly also got caught by some winging shots

The judges called it 60- 53, 58 – 55 and 59-55 for Sheldon.

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Mushin Decisions Ben Lock

Round One: Both guys seemed to be evenly matched as the used the first few minutes to paw at each other before releasing their punches. Lock complained about a headbutt in the first round and missed with some of his wilder swings.

Over the next four rounds Lock seemed to tire and settle in to try and keep off the assault of a taunting Muhsin who became more confident as the rounds progressed. Muhsin also began backing Lock against the ropes unleashing thudding shots against his body. Lock tried to circle around and out of these traps by winging his shots and keeping the action at the center of the ring, but Muhsin was in control of the fight.

Much of the fight went on this way with Ben Lock barely escaping some punishing shots and at the end of the fight all judges all had it 39 -37 by unanimous decision for the winner Muhsin who improved his record to 1-1-1. Ben Lock fell to 0-2-0.

There was almost no feeling out process for this fight as both guys exchanged blows leading to Caroleo losing his mouth piece within a few seconds of the round.

Albert seemed composed as he tried to use his jabs downwards trying to keep off the a bobbing and weaving Nick who nevertheless catches him against the corner and lands a looping right that almost stops Albert, Nick unleashes a bomb near the very end of the round.

Both fighters are out on their feet straining at their leashes for round two when suddenly there was a ruckus by ringside and a few people took off in the direction of the boxers locker room. Turns out recently victorious Sheldon was not responding well to the post fight checkup and the doctors by law had to rush off to check him out. This resulted in a 15 minute delay before the fight could continue after the medics came back.

Seemingly determined not to take blows like Sheldon, Nick launched a blistering assault battering Albert with punishing uppercuts and wild looping rights, Albert fights back furiously but falls back into the ropes and Nick leaps in with another heavier barrage of battering blows that had Albert almost out on his feet. The referee had seen enough by then and jumped in to stop the fight holding up the disconsolate Albert.

The fight was stopped at the 1.15 minute of the 2^nd round.

Another home town favorite and middleweight prospect Purcill "Hard Rock" Miller made his long awaited comeback after an almost five year self imposed hiatus away from the ring against the tattooed and "Notorious" Jason Nauglar of Halifax Canada who outweighed him by almost eight pounds. 

Round One: Jason stunned Miller early and seemed to have him trouble catching him off balance peppering him with jabs and flurries with bombs. Miller retaliated landing some winging right hand shots towards the end of the round. I scored the round for Jason.

Round two: Miller seems to be jabbing his way back into contention with more accurate pin point jabs and seemed to be successfully timing the frenetic flurrying rush of Jason whose left eye become puffy from the exchange.  Miller seems hesitant to launch a full assault making Jason taunt and beckon him to come on, Miller simply picks his jabs from the outside winning the fight on my scorecard.

Round Three: Jason initiates the first of several flurries and lands the stronger punches, but Miller seems to be getting into his rhythm with some stinging jabs and body shots. Jason briefly slips to the canvas. I called this round a draw.

Round four: Jason starts strong sending Miller hurtling into the ropes and begins to pummel him with straight right hand shots. Miller counters back very hard and begins to back Jason and seems to be landing the cleaner shots. During a one of the many flurries in the round Miller lands to the canvas right on his knees. He nearly did not make it to his feet and the pain from that slip may not have allowed him maneauver out of harms way as Miller battered him against the ropes to try and steal the round. Tough round to score so I was inclined to call it a draw.

Round Five: Jason traps Miller against the ropes and flails away. Miller fights back and circles around and away bring the action to the center of the ring and begins to land the more accurate clean shots but Jason retaliates with the harder bone crunching shots which sometimes miss Miller, In this round you got a sense of Miller pedigree as he seemed more technically sound picking his shots. Hard round to score but I was inclined to go for Jason in this round cause he landed the harder shots.

Round Six: Both fighters came out swinging degenerating the fight into a crowd pleasing slugfest, and although Miller punch output had increased Jason still landed the harder shots. I gave the round to Jason.

One judge scored the bout 57-57 a draw, another had it 58-56 for Nauglar and the third had it dead even at 57-57 leading to a majority draw. It seemed to be an opinion at ringside that Miller was lucky to walk away with a draw and a frustrated Jason stormed out of the ring apparently in apparant disgust.

Sugar Poo Outclasses Dhafir Smith

Home town favorite Henry Buchanan popularly known as Sugar Poo was the aggressor throughout the fight landing the harder shots while stalking a seeming awed and intimidated Dhafir Smith who was unable to let his hand go, preferring to instead cover up during Poo’s numerous assaults to his body.

By about the fourth round a seemingly frustrated Poo tried to force the action chasing Smith around the ring for the duration of the fight. I felt that Henry left himself open during while landing his right hand leads to the body. By the 7^th it was clear that Poo’s hand speed was too much for Dhafir but by the final round Sugar Poo had a slight swelling over his left eye.

The judges scored the bout 80- 72 all in favor of Henry by unanimous decision.

Other boxing celebrities at ringside included Derrel Coley, Ivan Robinson and Boyer Chew.

Showplace Arena

Temple Hill, MD - Keystone Boxing brings professional boxing back to The Showplace Arena on November 26th, 2005.

An exciting card featuring the return home of current USBA Super Featherweight Champion, Lamont "Bay" Pearson (22-3-1, 12 KO's) will also feature up and coming DC area fighters, Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan (11-0, 10 KO's), Purcell "Hard Rock" Miller (21-3, 17 KO's), and Reggie Holly (5-0, 2 KO's).

The event will feature six professional bouts, a live performance by the music group Atmosphere, and a live movie shoot for BK THRIVING ARTISTS, a local movie production company.

Keystone Boxing is coming off a very successful card that hosted over 5,000 spectators at The Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA this past September and is looking forward to bringing another entertaining fight card to Maryland for this event. Promoter Gene Molovinsky, founder of Keystone Boxing, began Keystone Boxing seven years ago in hopes of "promoting professional boxers in the D.C. metropolitan area and revitalizing local interest in the sport" and has promoted over twenty major professional fight cards in the region.

This impressive lineup features two 8 round bouts as a dual headliner with Lamont Pearson, Prince George's County, MD (22-3-1, 12KOs) vs. Pascali Adorno, Puerto Rico (9-3-2, 4 KOs) and Henry Buchanan, Washington DC (11-0, 11KOs) vs. Dhafir Smith, Philadelphia, PA (13-12-2, 3KOs). Prior to the headliners there will be two six round bouts showcasing locals Miller and Holly with Purcell Miller (22-3, 17KOs) vs. TBA and Reggie Holly (5-0, 5KOs) vs. Sheldon Rudolph (3-3, 2KOs) and the night will begin with youthful four rounders matching Taurus Corbbrey (0-2) vs. Ben Lock (0-1) and Nick Caroleo (1-0) vs. Albert Bankivicious (0-2).

BK THRIVING ARTISTS will be shooting a scene for their upcoming feature film, "Temporary Dreams," that is a drama that focuses on a notorious DC drug kingpin, Raymond Edwards, who was a huge boxing fan.

For tickets or more information, contact The Show Place Arena at (301) 952-7900 or Keystone Boxing at (301) 423-5700.

Fighters will weigh in on Friday November 25th, 2005 at 6pm. The weigh in will be held at the Show Place Arena in the Winner's Circle Room. All media is invited to attend.

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Source: Stephanie Papa, Keystone Boxing, (410) 790-9068

Writer: Brian Siatkowski, (410) 960-1089