Joppy and Cummings Look to Settle Beltway Bragging Rights with Grudge Rematch on Jimmy Lange Boxing Card;
Co-Main Event Set for March 12 at Patriot Center
FAIRFAX, VA — After earning a majority draw last November in a crowd-pleasing, back-and-forth contest, former D.C. world champion William Joppy (39-6-2, 30 KOs) and dangerous veteran Cory “Black Ice” Cummings (17-4-1, 13 KOs) of Baltimore, MD will look to settle Beltway bragging rights when they return to the Patriot Center on March 12 as the 10-round Co-Main Event on the Jimmy Lange Boxing card. The show is an Ice Promotions event presented by Valcourt Building Services.
Each fighter believed he won three months ago in their 10-round showdown where one judge scored in favor of Joppy, 96-94, while the other two saw it even at 95-95.
Joppy, a popular trainer at LA Boxing in Northern Virginia, continues to look for his elusive 40th career win after being stopped by World Boxing Association (WBA) / International Boxing Association (IBA) Light Heavyweight Champion Beibut Shumenov in Shymkent, Kazakhstan on January 10, 2011. Originally scheduled to fight Gayrat Ahmedov on the undercard, Joppy took the last-minute upgrade and title shot opportunity when Jürgen Brähmer pulled out days before the fight due to illness. During his illustrious career, Joppy has faced the super middleweight division’s best: Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, Roberto Duran, Howard Eastman, Lucian Bute, Jermain Taylor and Julio Cesar Green
Meanwhile, Cummings looks to prevent the former three-time world titleholder from reaching his milestone victory, while defeating his second straight D.C. fighter in the process. In May 2009, he captured the Maryland State Super Middleweight crown with a ninth-round TKO win over D.C.’s Demetrious Davis. Cummings has more than held his own against top opponents including former world champions Montell Griffin and top D.C. fighter Keith Holmes.
Hometown fighter and former Contender star Jimmy Lange (34-4-2, 24 KOs) of Great Falls, VA headlines his 12th Patriot Center show with a 10-round bout against Jimmy Holmes (19-1, 10 KOs) of Demotte, IN. The undercard features undefeated Todd “White Lightning” Wilson (9-0, 3 KOs) of Fairfax, VA vs. Dean “Pitbull” White (15-10-2, 3 KOs) of Smithsburg, MD; knockout artist Tony “Mo Better” Jeter (10-2-1, 9 KOs) of Stevensville, MD vs. TBD; a heavyweight collision between Ron “Heavy Duty” Gamble (1-0, 1 KO) of Arnold, MD and Abodurin “Bo” Akinyanju (3-1, 3 KOs) of Landover, MD; and Charlottesville, VA middleweight George “Wartime” Rivera (11-6, 4 KOs) vs. Shakir Ashanti (16-9, 4 KOs) of Greensboro, NC.
Tickets, priced at $35, $50, $75, $125, $200, $300 and $500 (plus applicable service charges), can be bought through all Ticketmaster outlets including the Patriot Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com/ and via phonecharge at 703-573-SEAT, 202-397-SEAT and 410-547-SEAT. Accessible seating is available for patrons with disabilities by calling 703-993-3035.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
